Come Dance With Me
by countingeverysecondoftheday
Summary: Pop star Austin Moon agrees to participate in the new series of Come Dance With Me, a show in which celebrities are partnered up with professional dancers and compete to try and win the title. He finds himself partnered up with an insanely talented dancer by the name of Ally. Can they work together to win the title?
1. Chapter 1

**Hi everyone! I just came up with the idea for this story a couple of days ago and haven't been able to get it out of my head, so let's get into it!**

 **This story is inspired by the BBC (a British television network) series 'Strictly Come Dancing', and its American equivalent 'Dancing With The Stars', neither of which do I own.**

 **As ever, I do not own Austin and Ally or anything you recognise from the show in any way, shape or form, nor do I own any recognisable brands, songs or lyrics within them.**

 **Enjoy!**

 **. . . . .**

 **Chapter One: Prologue**

"And the winners of Come Dance With Me 2016 are…" Emma, one of the presenters paused for effect.

The 10 seconds waiting for the winners to be announced was the longest wait of my life. My heart was beating at an insane tempo, and I was just staring at the ground, praying with everything in me that our names would be called.

"Chris and Ally!" Emma and the other host, Kate, shouted at the same time, followed by an insane roar of applause and cheering as the band struck up into a fanfare.

I couldn't believe it, I was in shock for about three seconds until I felt Chris, my celebrity partner, kneel down beside me and looked to see him sobbing into his hands in joy. I screamed in excitement as I bent down and put my arms around him, repeatedly shrieking "Oh my God, oh my God, we won, we actually won!"

After a few seconds he stood up, hugging me properly and picked me up spinning me round as we continued to laugh and congratulate each other, tears rolling down our faces.

When he put me down we walked over to Emma and Kate, who were beaming and ready to present us with the trophy, a huge round disco ball with the words "Come Dance With Me" written over it in cursive. I couldn't believe this moment was actually happening, as we both took the trophy in our hands and lifted it high above our heads.

As we lowered it, the rest of the cast came running over and immediately enveloped us in hugs and congratulations, and I was making sure to hug everyone.

At one point my boyfriend Dallas, one of the other professional dancers, picked me up in a hug and spun me round saying "I'm so proud of you, I knew you could do it!", before putting me down and giving me a quick kiss before I had to move on to hug the next person.

Pretty quickly we were told we had to go back over to Emma and Kate so they could talk to us, at which point I suddenly remembered we were live on TV and tried to regain my composure, at least even slightly, before the entire focus of the cameras was back on my face again.

"Congratulations Chris, you've danced incredibly over the last 13 weeks, how does it feel?" Emma asked my partner as we stood together, still reeling in shock.

"Ah, it's absolutely incredible, I still can't even believe it!" He said excitedly, looking down at me as I smiled back up at him.

Emma then turned to me. "Ally, congratulations, your first year on the show as a professional dancer and you come in and win the whole lot, what's going through your hear right now?" She pointed the microphone at me, at which point I realised my brain still wasn't really connected to my mouth at that point.

"Yeah, I… wow…" Is all I managed in a dazed expression, causing everyone to laugh and me to blush a little bit in embarrassment, not that anyone would really be able to tell at that moment.

Emma also laughed before putting the microphone in front of Chris one more time. "It's been a long journey for you both, Chris, do you have anything else you want to say before it all comes to an end?"

Chris takes the microphone from her with a smile before beginning to speak. "Yeah, I just want to thank all my family and friends for being so supportive, you've been amazing, and to everyone at home who's been voting for Ally and I, thank you for believing in me, I've had the best time of my life." He got a big cheer for this bit. "And most importantly, a massive thank you to this girl right here," He said, pointing at me, causing me to blush more and hug his side tighter. "Ally is absolutely incredible, an amazing dancer and an outstanding choreographer, and none of this would have happened without her." The crowd cheers even louder at this bit, which makes me so happy considering it's my first season on the show so they don't really know me that well yet. "Seriously, whoever gets her as a partner next year will be the luckiest man on the planet, and I can't wait to see her shine yet again."

Yeah… next year… I already can't wait to do it all again!

 **. . . . .**

At this point, I should probably explain a few things to you.

My name is Ally Dawson, and I am a professional dancer. I am the two-time American National Ballroom Champion, but I specialise in, and slightly prefer, Latin dancing, for which I am the three-time World Champion.

Dance is my life – I'm only 22, but I have been dancing ever since I can remember, and there's never been anything else I've wanted to do with my life. I met my boyfriend Dallas on the dance scene when we were 17 years old, and we were dancing partners for a while, but eventually decided to have different dance partners even though we were madly in love, as something never quite clicked right when we were dancing together. Dallas is an incredible dancer too – he hasn't won quite as many titles as me, but he's still amazing and I'm always so proud of him.

This summer, having decided with great difficult to stop competing, I was lucky enough to be approached by the producers of Come Dance With Me and asked to join the show as a professional dancer. I couldn't believe it – I had been watching that show since I was a little girl, it's one of the things that made me want to start dancing properly. Of course, I instantly said yes, and was even more ecstatic when I called Dallas to tell him and found out they'd asked him to join the show too.

And so our journey on Come Dance With Me began. It all went in a bit of a blur… one minute I'm being assigned my celebrity partner, Chris Hamilton, an actor in a big reality show, and the next thing I knew we were in the final and won the entire show!

And let me tell you, next year I will do anything to keep my title. And I have a really good feeling about it already.

 **. . . . .**

 **That's the end of the first chapter! Short, I know, like most of my introductory characters are.**

 **I know, the last thing I should be doing right now is starting another story when I already have two on the go that I'm not updating as regularly as I'd like to, but I'm really into this idea right now and just had to get it out there!**

 **I LOVE Strictly Come Dancing, it's one of my favourite shows on TV and I watch it religiously every year. So far this year's contest has been amazing and it really inspired me to write a fanfic about it, and I'm going to be basing lots of the dances in this off real dances performed on the show… it's gonna be hell to write them, though!**

 **Please remember to REVIEW, FOLLOW and FAVOURITE, it really helps, especially in the early days of a story so I can gauge how popular it's going to be and how regularly I want to update it… more response, more frequent updates!**

 **Have an awesome day/night/whatever, and as ever…**

 **Catch you later!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hi everyone! Welcome back to this story, I am still super excited about it.**

 **This story is inspired by the BBC (a British television network) series 'Strictly Come Dancing', and its American equivalent 'Dancing With The Stars', neither of which do I own.**

 **As ever, I do not own Austin and Ally or anything you recognise from the show in any way, shape or form, nor do I own any recognisable brands, songs or lyrics within them.**

 **Enjoy!**

 **. . . . .**

 **Chapter Two: Launch**

 _Next year, I will do anything to keep my title. And I have a really good feeling about it already._

 _ **9 months later…**_

September 2017. Time for the launch of the next season of Come Dance With Me.

A lot has changed since I won the show with Chris last year. First of all, I no longer have a boyfriend. I found out about a month after the show finished that Dallas had cheated on me with his partner during the show, a model called Kira Starr. They're still together now. I was heartbroken, I couldn't believe Dallas would actually do that to me having been with me for so long. I loved him…

But anyway, I haven't been on another date with anyone since I broke up with Dallas, to be honest I don't think I've really gotten over him yet. I know that may seem ridiculous, it's been nearly a year, but he was my first love, and I don't fall in love easily. It just hurt me a lot, I'd never been all that self-confident growing up, and when you get left for a tall, stunning model like Kira it just makes me feel pathetic. Just short, boring Ally Dawson.

But enough about that, I'll be fine. Earlier this year I toured with a musical around America for a few months, as dance captain. It was an incredible experience, my first time working on a Broadway-level musical, as I'd loved watching those as a kid too. Secretly I wish I had the guts to actually audition for a lead role… I love singing, I sing when I'm at home all the time, but – and this may sound stupid – I have stage fright. Obviously not with dancing, but I've never sang in front of anybody before, I was just approached by the director of the musical and asked to be a dance captain and I could just mime along with the actors singing. It's my dream to have a lead role on Broadway, I'm just not confident enough to go for it.

Regardless of how amazing my time on tour was, I was definitely happy to get home to Miami in June to enjoy the summer relaxing. I've lived in Miami my entire life, I own my own apartment now in the city centre but I still get to see my parents often. My dad owns a music store in the Miami Mall, Sonic Boom, and I practically grew up there. Music is another passion of mine… as well as singing, I can play piano and guitar, because I learnt those as a kid. Then dancing took off and I had to sort of put music to one side, but that definitely doesn't mean I love it any less. I'll still sometimes help my dad out by doing a few shifts in the store if he really needs the help.

It's been weird this year, when I've been working in the store, if someone comes in and recognises me from Come Dance With Me last year. Needless to say, they're a little confused as to why I'm working in a music store, but when I explain it all makes sense to them. This is what I love about my social status since doing the show… I'm by no means a celebrity, nor would I really want to be, but I'm still recognisable to fans of the show and it feels awesome when people do recognise me and tell me that they loved my dancing. I love being able to go about my normal life without being hounded by crowds and paparazzi but still have a select group of fans, in my mind it's the best of both worlds.

It's been a crazy year so far, and now… it's show time!

 **. . . . .**

Today's the day of the launch show, in which the celebrities are paired up with their professional partners.

I'm so excited to find out who I'm going to be dancing with, I've had butterflies in my stomach for the last couple of days in anticipation.

I go for my normal morning run after waking up, before showering and getting ready to head out to the studio. Another perk of the show is that it's filmed right here in Miami, so I can stay at home whereas most other professional dancers have to be put up in hotels for the duration of the competition. My best friend Trish, who is also a professional dancer on the show, moves in with me for a few months instead of having to go into a hotel, which is great because we get to spend some time together. We met at dance competitions, as we competed against each other a lot when we were teenagers. Like me, she has a preference for the Latin dances, and we've created some pretty amazing Salsa duets between us for fun.

When we're both ready, we head outside where the car is waiting for us. Perk number 3 – the production company provides us with lifts to and from the studio so we don't have to drive or get public transport, and that makes our lives so much easier.

We can't stop chatting about how excited we are the entire 40 minute drive to the studio on the outskirts of the city, and when we arrive I am desperate to get dancing already!

We enter the studio and head to the CDWM green room, where all the professionals meet up every show day to chat and rehearse our group routines before the celebrities arrive and we have to get ready for the show. When we walk in, most of the other professionals are already there and within seconds our best friend Carrie is squealing and running over to give us big hugs.

Carrie has been on the show for about four years, and was like a bigger sister to Trish and I when we joined the show last year, we couldn't have got through it all without her.

We all hug and squeal and quickly catch up for a few minutes, before I go over to say hi to everybody else. It's like a big family reunion, the friendships I made with the other dancers last year are unlike any other friendships you can imagine and I wouldn't want to share the experience with any other group of people.

And then I find myself in front of Dallas. I'd forgot he was also returning as a professional dancer and hadn't even seen him when I'd entered the room earlier. Within a split second all my excitement was gone and a feeling of dread entered my stomach in its place. Looking into his eyes for the first time in 8 months, I suddenly realise just how not-over-him I am. All the hurt, regret and longing comes rushing back to me and I have to blink back tears that enter my eyes.

I feel incredibly awkward, but it doesn't seem to have affected him in the same way at all, as he greets me with a big smile and a friendly hug, saying "Ally! So good to see you, how have you been?"

I'm not over him, but he's definitely over me. But of course he would be, he has a stunning model for a girlfriend now, why would he still be hung up over plain old me? I suddenly realise I am being hugged and need to reply, so I timidly wrap my arms around him too and reply half-heartedly "Good thanks, glad to be back here again." I wasn't even sure if I meant at the studio or in his arms. Man, I need to get over this guy!

He pulls away from the hug. "Yeah, me too! Good luck this year, I know you'll be amazing again." He says, before walking off to say hi to Trish.

I give a small wave as he walks away, and take a second to desperately try and comprehend what just happened, before carrying on catching up with everyone else.

When all the professional dancers have arrived, we are quickly talked through the changes in the set and our entrances and positioning for coupling etc., but as there are no new professionals this year it doesn't take long.

Then it's time for us to get ready. We move into our respective boys and girls dressing rooms and change into our plain black coupling costumes – for the girls, this is a beautiful, simple black dress that comes to mid-thigh with a few plastic rhinestones for decoration, with black strappy heel pumps. We're told all the celebrities have arrived and are getting ready in another other dressing room. We're not allowed to actually meet them until we've all been paired up, for some reason. I've seen the list of what celebrities are taking part this year, and it actually looks like it's going to be a pretty good year. Of course, there are always a couple of no-hopers who will be out within the first few weeks, but beyond that it should be quite an interesting competition.

One name stands out to me: Austin Moon. He's a singer who's suddenly shot to fame in the last year, but because I've been away on tour for most of the year I haven't actually heard much of his music. However, what I have heard is amazing; he has an incredible voice that I could listen to all day. Plus, pop stars normally do well on this show because they generally have good musicality and timing and an ability to pick up choreography quickly. I find myself hoping Austin is my partner, which is weird as last year I didn't originally have a favourite that I hoped to be paired with.

Kate and Emma, the hosts, come into our dressing room just before they head out to film the introduction to the show and we all say hello and have a quick catch up. They're like the moms of the group, even though they're not really much older than us. They made the entire experience much more fun last year, they're very funny and always a hit with the audience.

Soon it's time for us to line up for our entrances, and all the professionals group together to do our warm-up/good luck ritual before we go out.

Show time.

 **. . . . .**

Soon enough, it's time for the female professionals to find out who our celebrity partners will be, and we all take our marks in individual spotlights.

There are six of us, and therefore six male celebrities. They would each come out, have a short chat with Emma, and then it would be revealed who they would be dancing with.

The first three pass uneventfully, Carrie getting paired up with a news anchor who was about 65 years old… one of the no-hopers I mentioned earlier.

The fourth celebrity to come out is the one I had been waiting for – Austin Moon.

He gets a huge cheer from the audience as his name is announced and he walks out and over to Emma, clearly he already had a pretty substantial fan base, and I could see why – he's an incredibly attractive, good looking guy, tall with a strong body and bright blonde hair that I had a strange urge to run my fingers through. I'd seen a few pictures of him online, but he was _so_ much hotter in person. My breath hitched in my throat when he walked out but I quickly regained my composure and listened to his conversation with Emma.

"Welcome to the show, Austin!" She said brightly.

"Thanks, Emma, I'm so excited." He replied with a smile. My God he's attractive.

"So have you been doing any practicing for the show?" Emma asked.

"I love dancing, I always dance in my concerts, so hopefully I'll be able to use that in this competition." He said with a chuckle. It was clear he was genuinely really excited for this, unlike some celebrities who were obviously only there for a bit of publicity and to try and stay relevant when really no one cares about them anymore.

"Well, shall we find out who your partner is?" Emma asked.

"Yeah, let's do it." Austin replied excitedly, rubbing his hands together and looking over at us in our spotlights.

We make eye contact briefly and I smile at him, which he returns, and it makes me feel good. I really hope he's my partner, I think we could be good friends and we'd have a blast in this competition.

"Okay, Austin Moon, your partner for Come Dance With Me 2017 is…" Emma said, before pausing for effect as the band began their quiet, atmospheric dramatic music in the background.

I stop breathing during the pause without even realising it.

"ALLY!" Emma excitedly announces, as the lights come up and the band strikes up properly.

I beam over at Austin and wave to the audience, before walking over towards Austin and Emma, spinning and putting my hand on his shoulder perfectly in time with the final beat of the band.

Then, as the audience once again cheers, I wrap my arms around his neck in a hug and speak into his ear. "Nice to meet you, I'm Ally. Ally Dawson." I pull away and smile and him which he returns. I can tell he is about to reply, probably to introduce himself, when Emma speaks again.

"Well, Austin, this is Ally's second year on the show and she won last year, happy with your partnership?" She asked him, pointing the microphone at him.

"Yeah, yeah, I think we're gonna have a good time." He replies with a cool smile.

"Great, happy Ally?" She quickly asks me.

"Yeah, really happy, I can't wait!" I respond truthfully.

"Great, well off you go, go and get introduced, Austin and Ally everyone!" Emma exclaims to another round of applause as Austin takes me hand and we leave the stage into the green room to get a chance to talk to each other.

Austin Moon's my partner… I guess I got my wish!

 **. . . . .**

 **There's chapter 2, hope you all enjoyed!**

 **Please follow, favourite and review, it really helps.**

 **Catch you later!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hi everyone! Welcome back to this story, I am so happy you guys seem to be liking it so far.**

 **This story is inspired by the BBC (a British television network) series 'Strictly Come Dancing', and its American equivalent 'Dancing With The Stars', neither of which do I own.**

 **As ever, I do not own Austin and Ally or anything you recognise from the show in any way, shape or form, nor do I own any recognisable brands, songs or lyrics within them.**

 **Enjoy!**

 **. . . . .**

 **Chapter Three: Week One – Getting to know Austin**

When we get into the green room, I realise that I really don't know what to say to Austin, since I pretty much already introduced myself to him on stage, so I guess the ball is in his court?

I was correct in this, as almost immediately he steps in front of me, facing me and introduces himself. "I'm Austin. It's a pleasure to meet you, Ally." He says with a bright grin, holding out his hand for me to shake, which I do, smiling back at him.

"Nice to meet you too. I'm quite a fan of your music, what I've heard of it at least." I reply, walking over to a table to grab a bottle of water, throwing one to him too.

"Oh yeah?" He asks as he breaks his bottle open and takes a swig.

"Yeah, I haven't had the chance to listen to much of it because of my work but sometimes one of your songs will come on when I'm running." I explain, walking over to a couch and sitting, indicating for him to come and join me.

"Good to know," He replies as he strolls over and sits next to me. "I gotta tell you, I am _so_ excited to be on Come Dance With Me, I couldn't believe it when I got the call from my manager asking if I wanted to do it."

I smile. "Well that's good, at least even if you're a hopeless dancer you'll have enthusiasm." I tease.

He smirks. "I guess we'll see about that but I've been told my moves are pretty impressive." He counters.

"Maybe so, but the kind of dancing you do when you're singing is probably very different to the dancing you'll be doing on this show. Somehow I can't imagine you bursting out into a waltz half way through one of your pop songs." We both share a small laugh followed by a couple of seconds of comfortable silence. "So have you had any dance classes or experience before?" I continue, figuring I should actually try and gauge some level of his skill so I know what I'll have to work with when I choreograph our first dance.

"I had a few lessons when I was a kid, but that was all street and hip-hop. I've never done any ballroom or anything." He replies. At least he's not completely new to dance like many celebrities on this show tend to be. "I'm a little bit nervous about it, to be honest. I mean 'graceful' wouldn't exactly be the first word I'd use to describe myself."

I was a little shocked by this. Although I had hoped to get him as a partner, there was still part of me expecting him to be the typical, stuck-up, arrogant, cocky pop star that you would assume him to be. Meeting someone from show business who actually doesn't think of themselves as a God can be pretty rare, and I think I've struck lucky here.

"Don't worry." I reply, placing my hand over his on the back of the couch with a gentle smile (ignoring the tiny, miniscule, barely-even-felt-it electric shock I get). "I'll help you and we'll be just fine. I have a really good feeling about this year."

"Yeah, I know you will." He replies, also smiling. "I watched the show last year, and you were pretty damn incredible! No wonder you won. If that's anything to go by, I think we'll stand a good chance."

"Ooh, confident I see." I mock with a small giggle.

"Graceful may not be a word to describe me, but confident definitely is." He replies.

"Well let's hope that confidence turns into results. I'm warning you now, it's gonna be a tough and busy few weeks. This first week in particular is especially hectic as we have to do all our press and pre-filming for the titles and everything as well as getting our routine together, so you'd better be ready." I warn with a raise of an eyebrow and a small smirk.

"Yes sir." Austin replies with a small salute, making me giggle, and that seems to make him smile. "Do you know what our first dance is yet?" He asks eagerly.

"No, but they should tell us by the end of tonight's filming. If not then the producers will definitely text me by the end of tonight so I can start thinking about choreography and stuff." I reply. "Luckily we're scheduled to have all our photoshoots and pre-filming done tomorrow so we'll have the rest of the week to practice uninterrupted." I continue. "Last year Chris and I didn't have ours until the Friday, the day before the live show, so we had to do our dress rehearsal on Thursday and it was a rush to get it all done in time." I explain.

"Sweet." Austin replied. There was silence for a few seconds… it had been a comfortable one, but it was just starting to border on awkward when he spoke up again, in a gentle voice. "Hey, Ally…" I looked up at him again and our eyes locked together. "I just want to say thank you… in advance… for all the hard work I know you're gonna put into this. I'm honestly so excited and honoured to have you as my partner and I can't wait." He finished with a smile. I was speechless.

Oh God that smile.

 **. . . . .**

The next day, Trish and I were being driven to the studio for the photo shoot and pre-roll filming, and she was complaining about her partner in typical Trish fashion. Like Carrie, she had been paired with a no-hoper… poor guy – one thing I know from my years of friendship with Trish is that she is fierce and won't take failure easily. I just hope she doesn't kill the poor guy by pushing him too hard in desperation to stay in for at least a few weeks!

I was quite happily giggling away to myself as she ranted and cursed in Spanish for the entire car journey, as it also allowed me time to think and plan for myself.

I got the call from the producer late last night, telling me that mine and Austin's first dance is going to be the Quickstep, which I absolutely love! My specialty is definitely in Latin dancing, but out of all the Ballroom dances the Quickstep is one of my favourite. I also think it will suit Austin pretty well, at least as an introductory dance.

Before I know it, we've arrived and Trish and I are instantly pushed into hair and make-up. I am given pretty simple, natural make-up just to make sure I don't look like a ghost under the bright lights, and my hair is curled into gentle waves and brought into a half-up do – I absolutely love it, simple yet elegant.

We are then sent into wardrobe to wear the same costumes we had for the pairing during the launch show before being sent out onto the studio floor, where all the professionals are going to meet.

When everyone's there we have the big professional group photo shoot as well as individual photos done, and we get through them relatively quickly, all continuing to chat about our partners and catch up whilst we wait between shots. I notice Dallas coming towards me a few times during the session, but every time manage to sneak away and avoid him – I really can't face talking to him right now, I definitely need my space from him, for now at least.

Once all our professional photos are done, it's not long before the celebrities arrive, go through their own hair, make-up and costume and come and join us in the studio.

Austin comes straight over to me when he walks through the door, and we both smile as he walks towards me. I'm stood chatting to Trish and Carrie, as you might expect, so I decide to introduce them. "Trish, Carrie, this is Austin. Austin this is Trish," I indicate the short Latina. "and this is Carrie" I do the same for the taller blonde. He gives them both a quick hug as they exchange _'Nice to meet you'_ s and I'm about to say something else when Austin is called over for his individual photo.

"Okay. It's official. He's the hot one this year." Trish says, turning to me. When she notices me still absent-mindedly staring after him she lifts her eyebrows and clicks her fingers in my face.

I jolt as I look back at her, and Carrie, giggling next to her. "What?" I ask.

"Does someone have a little _crush_ on their dance partner?" Trish questions, eyebrows still up.

"No." I respond firmly. "I literally met the guy yesterday." I say, crossing my arms.

"Okay." Trish replies, raising her hands. "He's hot. All I'm saying."

I just roll my eyes and chuckle to myself. I mean, she's not wrong. He's definitely hot. But after all, I'm still not over Dallas.

Before Carrie has a chance to add to Trish's witty comments, I'm called over for my photo with Austin.

He smiles at me as I walk over and I return it, before standing next to him. I put my arm around his waist and turn into him slightly, turning my head to face the camera, and feel his own arm sling itself around my shoulders as we both smile at the camera.

He only takes a couple before lowering the camera, then smiling and nodding at us, indicating that he's got everything he needs and we can move on.

As the other couples continue getting their photos done, we walk over to the other end of the studio to chat whilst we wait for everyone else to be done and leave so we can do our pre-roll filming. We take a seat on a couple of the chairs.

"So I got our first dance." I say as we sit down.

"Oh yeah?" He asks with an excited smile.

"Yeah, we're doing the Quickstep." I say, smiling back at him.

"Ah cool, thank God it's not one of those slow, boring ones." He says in relief, relaxing into his chair.

"I'm sorry, what?" I ask with a small giggle, confused. He seemed so excited about all the dances yesterday.

"Don't take it the wrong way or anything," He begins. "I'm sure when we do those your choreography will be amazing and it'll look incredible, but in general I just find those slower dances… dull?" He finishes, scratching the back of his neck a little awkwardly.

Clearly he's expecting me to be really mad that he's insulting the dances or whatever, which I think is why he looks so surprised when I just giggle and place my hand on top of his, lying on the chair in between us. "Don't worry Austin, I know what you mean." I say, and he relaxes a little. "But I have a feeling once you get into them, you'll be surprised how much you'll enjoy it. I mean, look at me, I _live_ for the Salsa, and the Cha Cha Cha, and all those exciting, fast, Latin dances more than anything else in the world… but I still love a Waltz. When it's done nicely and it's all smooth and elegant, it's magical. It makes me feel like a princess when I do those dances, like the rest of the world fades away for a few minutes. Just you wait, Austin Moon, I am determined that I'm gonna make you enjoy at least one of those 'dull' dances."

As I finish, I feel myself leaving the fantasy world I so often find myself in when I start talking like that, and look over at Austin to see him just staring at me, a small smile on his face and an unrecognisable glint in his eye. "I'm sorry." I say quickly with a chuckle, fixing my hair and looking down at my hands. "It's so embarrassing I always start just talking like that and I understand it must be so annoying because it's annoying to me too and I'm the one sayi-'' I'm cut off from my rambling by a hand placed atop my own, and I look back up to see Austin with the same look on his face.

"Don't worry, Ally. What you said… you're clearly so passionate about it. I have no doubt you're gonna prove me wrong, I couldn't think of anyone better to teach me." He finishes and I smile back, blushing a little. "So, tell me more about the Quickstep."

"Well, uh… it's quick." I say, causing us both to laugh a little at the obvious statement.

"You don't say." Austin replies as we laugh.

"I know right, who would have thought." I say. "Seriously, though, it's very quick and very technical… if you wanted an easy introduction into the competition, sorry but you haven't got it."

"No don't worry, I like a challenge." He replies with a small smirk and another glint in his eye. "Any ideas for the routine yet?" He asks.

"I came up with a few basic ideas last night, yeah, but you're gonna have to wait until we get into the studio tomorrow to see them." I respond with a smile.

"Sounds good." Austin replies, matching my smile.

We chat mundanely for a few more minutes, and before long everyone else has finished having their photos done so

it's time for us to do all our pre-roll filming.

The main thing we have to do is figure out our little three-second moment for the title sequence, and I have an idea for that I've been thinking about for a while.

Every professional has something special about them that they're sort of known for… given my height and preference for Latin dance, mine is my ability to be thrown about relatively easily and therefore being good at lifts. So, my idea is that I will simply jump into Austin's arms and he'll spin me round bridal style once before we both smile for the camera. Simple, quick, and impressive.

I relay this idea to Austin, who agrees with an enthusiastic smile, and we're given a few minutes to practice this for them to figure out camera angles and make sure we don't go too high or anything.

On the first attempt I can instantly feel how strong he is as he effortlessly holds me up and spins me round, and my mind is already whirring with ideas for what we can do later on in the series… there is so much potential here!

When it's time to record it, we nail it first time, and when we watch it back it looks amazing. Austin is stood facing the camera, smiling, on his own for about half a second before I come on from the right, throw my arms around his neck and jump. He catches me bridal style and we spin once. When we finish the spin, I'm looking at the camera and he is looking at me, so I use my right hand to put a finger on his cheek and push it so he is also looking at the camera. We both stay there, smiling into the camera for about a second before the screen goes black, signalling where the title sequence will move on to the next couple.

"Good job!" I say, wrapping my arms around Austin's neck in a hug.

"Thanks." He says into my shoulder.

"Okay, so tomorrow we start rehearsals. 9 o'clock sharp, Palm Beach Dance Studios, okay?" I ask as we walk through into the green room.

"Sounds great, I can't wait!" He replies.

"Good." I reply with a small giggle. We stay stood there, just looking at each other for a few seconds. "Bye Austin, see you tomorrow." I say, giving him one last hug, which he returns.

"Bye Ally. Have a good night." He says, before walking off into the male dressing room as I turn towards the female dressing room myself.

Unfortunately for me, my day's not over yet. As this is the first week, today is the only day us professionals can create and rehearse our group routines for the week, as we need as much time as possible with the celebrities.

So, I am immediately off to the dance studios, where the rest of the professionals already are, to get through the two dances we will be doing. It's a long, gruelling session, but we get through it, and the finished dances look amazing. We film them so we can all watch them and rehearse them on our own time during the week, before saying goodbye and heading off to our respective homes.

Trish is, as usual, talking all the way home, but this time I'm barely listening as I continue to plan and think about mine and Austin's dance. When we get back, Trish decides to spend the evening relaxing. I, however, head through to our spare room, which we use as a practice room complete with mirrors and a wooden floor, and start choreographing mine and Austin's routine. The first dance is always the most difficult one to create, as we're still blind to the celebrity's strengths and weaknesses, but what I have by the end of the night feels like a pretty solid routine… I guess I'll have to wait until tomorrow to find out.

I'm so excited – tomorrow I start my rehearsals with Austin Moon.

 **. . . . .**

 **There you have it!**

 **I have genuinely been working on this chapter since I posted the last one, adding to it whenever I've had time over the past week… which hasn't been often… I really want this story to be good though, so I am trying so hard to not rush it and make sure I'm happy with the quality of it… hope that's showing!**

 **Please follow, favourite and review!**

 **ALSO, LET ME KNOW YOUR FAVOURITE ROUTINES FROM STRICTLY COME DANCING/DANCING WITH THE STARS (preferably that have a male celebrity and a female pro) AND I WILL TRY AND INCLUDE IT IN THE STORY!**

 **Catch you later! :)**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hi everyone! Welcome back to this story, I am so happy you guys seem to be liking it so far.**

 **This story is inspired by the BBC (a British television network) series 'Strictly Come Dancing', and its American equivalent 'Dancing With The Stars', neither of which do I own.**

 **As ever, I do not own Austin and Ally or anything you recognise from the show in any way, shape or form, nor do I own any recognisable brands, songs or lyrics within them.**

 **Enjoy!**

 **. . . . .**

 **Chapter Four: Week One – First Rehearsal**

I woke up bright and early the next morning, eager to start my rehearsals with Austin. Unfortunately, this excitement has made me wake up at 6:30am, earlier than I normally do and I find myself with a lot of time to kill. So, I decide to go for a run – I usually only go running on days when I don't have a rehearsal, but I figure I might as well this morning, especially given how sunny it is out.

I have a quick breakfast, a fruit salad of apples, pineapples, oranges and grapes before heading back through to my bedroom. As I pass Trish's room I hear her still happily snoring away, and smile to myself thinking about my crazy best friend trying to dance with her partner, some golfer nobody's heard about for like 20 years.

I put on a pink tank top, black leggings and my running trainers and put my hair up into a ponytail, grab my phone and headphones and head out the door. As I go down the elevator in my apartment block I plug my headphones in and turn on my running playlist, and as I leave the front door of the building I take off into a light jog down the streets of Miami.

My route takes me down to the beach, not too far from my apartment, and I start to run along the path that winds its way alongside the beach. As I'm running, one of Austin's songs comes on my playlist and I instantly smile at his recognisable voice, singing along in my head as I continue to run. Believe it or not his music is actually really good music to run too – a good, fast beat, a catchy hook and an upbeat vibe.

I start going over my plans for the choreography in my head, and get lost in it, suddenly snapping out of it and realising I'd ran a lot further than I'd planned to, having gotten distracted by my thoughts about the dance and not really taking notice of anything else. I check the time on my phone – 7:30… wow, I've been running for nearly an hour!

I decide I'd better turn back to make sure I'm not late to rehearsal, that is definitely not the impression I want to set to Austin on the first day.

I make it back to my apartment in record time and quickly hop in the shower, cleansing myself of the sweat that had built up on my run despite the fact that I was probably just about to get all sweaty again at rehearsals.

I put on a pale blue vest top and black leggings with my sunglasses. I grab my dance bag and several bottles of water, along with my purse, before leaving the apartment… no prizes for guessing that Trish was still asleep.

It only takes about 10 minutes for me to walk to Palm Beach Dance Studios, where I'm going to be rehearsing with Austin, and I get there at 9:55. I wait outside the main doors for just a couple of minutes, until I see him round the corner and smile as he walks up to me.

"Hi Ally." He greets happily.

"Morning Austin." I return equally happily as I turn to walk through the glass door into the studio reception. I sign us in and lead him down the corridor to our rehearsal studio. "How are you today?"

"I'm good, I can't wait to actually start!" He replies enthusiastically.

"Neither can I." I reply honestly with a smile as we walk through the door into the studio. "I have so many ideas for this dance." I tell him as I walk across the room and put my stuff down in the corner by the stereo system, and turn to see him following me over to put his stuff in the same place.

"Awesome, I was looking up some other Quicksteps people have done on the show last night." He says, sitting down on the floor next to me.

"Oh yeah? What did you think?" I ask him as I get a bottle of water out of my bag and take a sip.

"It looks like a pretty fun dance. But I think I can do better than everyone I saw." He answers confidently, taking out his own water bottle.

"Well, I guess we'll see about that." I respond. "Let's start by doing a warm up and some basic stretches."

I lead him through a simple warm-up routine – a few lengths of the studio doing high knees and kick-ups, before we move onto some frog jumps and gates to open up the groin, and finally some windmills and side stretches to loosen the arms.

Next we sit on the floor to stretch out a little. This will give me a chance to get a sense of his flexibility so I have an idea of what he'll be able to do in future dances. We start with some simple hamstring stretches and I'm fairly surprised how far he can reach down his legs.

I hear a small chuckle as I reach down all the way and wrap my hands around my feet with my head on my knees, and look up to see Austin shaking his head a little with an amused smile on his face.

"What?" I ask, smiling.

"I just don't understand how people can physically be that flexible." He answers.

"Lots of practice, my friend, lots and lots of practice." I respond, before returning to my previous position to make sure I'm properly stretched out.

When I'm happy that we're both suitably warmed and stretched, we walk back over to the corner to grab a drink.

"Okay, so as you know we're doing a Quickstep this week, and the song we're going to be dancing to is Mr Blue Sky by ELO." I tell him, and his smile widens.

"I love that song!" He replies excitedly.

"Good," I reply with a small laugh. "Chances are you're going to be hearing a lot of it this week so you might get fed up of it by the end." He just shrugs. "So no one gets sent home this week because it's the first week, but we still need to make this routine amazing, lots of people will make up their minds on who their favourite of the season is just by the first dance so we need to get it right." I tell him.

"Got it." He replies with a small salute, which I find strangely cute.

"Okay, so my idea for the start of the dance is that it's like you live in the apartment above me and you're always dancing, causing a racket." I explain as I stand up and walk to the centre of the room, facing the mirrors. "So what's gonna happen is we're gonna be stood behind these giant squares either side of the dance floor and the camera's gonna make it look like you're above me, that make sense?" I ask.

"Yeah I think so." Austin replies.

I walk and grab some tape from my bag and place two diagonal lines on either side of the dance floor towards the back of the room. "So we're gonna use this as our like place to stand behind for now." I say, indicating the area opposite me for Austin to go and stand behind the tape, which he dutifully does. "Okay, so we're gonna be like silhouettes so you can just freestyle dance, do whatever you want, make it clear you're making a lot of noise. Then I'm gonna have a prop broomstick and bang the top of the box to make it look like I'm banging on the ceiling, and when I do that you need to respond by stamping a few times, yeah?"

"Sweet." Austin replies, clearly mentally thinking of something to do for his mini freestyle section.

"Then the music will start, we'll come out from behind the squares and I'll be marching over to you like I'm about to come pounding on your door and you're gonna 'step out' of the door into me. Let's just try that."

Needless to say, this is pretty much effortless, so now we're stood directly in front of each other. "And now, we start the actual dancing." I reply with a smile, which he returns. "So the first thing I need to teach you is hold. You'll hear this term a lot, but basically being in hold is whenever we're like this…" I say before demonstrating by placing his right hand around my upper body and taking his other hand in mine, placing my spare hand on his shoulder. "Whenever we're in hold, this position needs to be really firm, okay?"

He nods in response.

"Next thing: frame. It's so important you have your back straight and your chin up, otherwise it looks crappy, look in the mirror." I say and we both turn, seeing his naturally slightly-slumped posture. Seeing this, he straightens up and we look much better. "Perfect!" I say. "We'll go into more detail about this stuff later but for now let's just start the choreography."

 **. . . . .**

Several hours later, we've got through the choreography for about half of the dance, and I'm super happy with how it's coming along. Austin's picked up the steps really quickly and he's just as talented as I thought he'd be.

The Quickstep is a very tricky technical dance so he has really been thrown in at the deep end for the first week, but he's handled it exceptionally well. Not perfectly, and of course there will still be a lot for us to work on, but for a first day it's been like a dream.

"Good job!" I congratulate him as we finish another run through of what we have so far, and wrap my arms around his neck in a hug.

"Thanks Ally." He replies.

"I think we can call it a day there, we've got through everything I wanted us to today." I tell him as I step out of the hug and walk over to my dance bag, taking a large gulp of my water.

"Thank God, I am exhausted!" He replies, walking over to join me as we sit on the floor together.

"This is just the beginning, rock star, it's not gonna get easier from here." I reply with a sigh as I slump against the wall slightly.

"I'm enjoying it, though." He continues, turning to face me with a smile.

I giggle. "Good, cos if you were already hating it after just one day then I've definitely done something wrong." I joke, and he laughs a little too.

"Well that is definitely not the case." He responds and we both just smile at each other for a second. "Same time tomorrow?" He asks as we simultaneously start putting all our stuff away.

"Yeah, 9am here, if that's okay?" I ask.

"Yeah of course, I'll be here." He reponds with a smile as we both leave the studio and walk down the corridor to the reception. I sign us out and we walk out the door into the warm Miami afternoon. It's only 3pm so it's still sunny and hot as hell, so I put my sunglasses back on. The studios are right on the sea front, so we cross the street and sit on a bench facing out over the beach. "So, Ally, any plans tonight?" He asks.

"Not really, I'll probably just have a movie night with Trish." I reply, half wondering whether my Latina best friend has actually made it out of bed yet. "What about you?"

"I have a meeting with my manager, Dez, later." Austin replies, making me realise that he actually is still a huge pop star and he probably still has a really hectic schedule. How he's managing to find time for the show amazes me. "I mean I say manager, he's actually my best friend but he's just the person I trust most to be my manager." He explains, and I nod and smile in understanding.

"How are you finding time to do this show and still be a world famous pop star?" I ask, curiously.

"I've decided I want to step away from music, just for a little bit." He responds, and I'm shocked.

"What?" I question.

"Yeah, I just wasn't really feeling the music I was singing on my last album. I mean I love it, it's catchy and fun, but sometimes I feel like it's just not me, you know?" He asks.

"Yeah, I understand." I reply, smiling. "At least you'll have more time to practise your dancing." I joke, nudging him in the ribs slightly.

He chuckles. "Nah, I don't wanna dance unless I'm with you." He replies… it feels like a joke and I know that's how it's intended but it still gives me a kinda warm feeling in my stomach. "Besides, kinda difficult to dance a Quickstep in hold when you live on your own."

"Fair point." I nod. I'm used to practicing and choreographing on my own in my apartment, but I understand that it's more difficult when you're new to the style of dancing and are still somewhat reliant on your partner to guide you. "Anyway, I don't want to hold you up from all your pop star business so I'm gonna head back to my apartment now. I'll see you tomorrow morning, Austin." I say, standing up as he does the same and hugging him quickly.

"Bye Ally. Have a good evening." He replies with a smile before we both head off our separate ways.

 **. . . . .**

When I walk through the front door of my apartment, I see Trish sat on the couch watching some old Spanish movie, which I of course can't understand a word of. "Hey Trish." I say as I walk behind her to go dump my stuff in my room and get changed.

"Hola chica." She replies, making me giggle at the fact she's still in Spanish mode.

I change into blue skinny jeans and a black crop top before walking back out into the living room and sitting on the couch adjacent to the one Trish is lounging on and pulling out my cell phone.

"How was rehearsal with Austin?" She asks, not taking her eyes off the screen.

"Really good." I reply as I open my Instagram. "He's as good as we thought he'd be."

"We?" She asks.

"Okay, I thought he'd be." I correct. "I thought you agreed with me, though?"

"Girl, you were in an Austin Moon trance when we were talking about him, you were barely registering what was happening." She replies and I blush slightly, scrolling down my feed more furiously. "But you have a point, the man clearly has talent."

"That he certainly does." I reply. "He picked everything up really quickly. Did you have a rehearsal with Tony today?" I ask, referring to her partner.

"No we had our pre-roll filming so I told him we'd start proper rehearsals tomorrow."

"How did that go?" I ask.

"He's hopeless." Trish replies with a sigh. "He basically just stood there and I twirled around him." She continues.

"Oh well, at least you should be able to get a laugh out of rehearsals with him." I reply, getting up to grab some food from the kitchen. "Are you cooking tonight?" I call from the kitchen.

"Honey, when have I ever cooked for us?" Comes her reply, and I laugh.

"Touché." I call back. "What do ya fancy?"

"Food is food, Ally." She responds and I smile and shrug before I start preparing a meal for us.

As I predicted earlier, we spend the evening eating and watching movies together, laughing our heads off at the ridiculous old rom-coms and crying like little children in emotional scenes. I love nights like this with Trish… to be honest I love nights like this with anyone.

All in all I feel like it's the perfect end to the perfect first day of rehearsals.

Bring on Saturday night!

 **. . . . .**

 **There ya go! Chapter 4! Written in about an hour, not the best chapter ever but I'm still happy with it.**

 **In the next chapter I have to describe the entire dance… that's gonna be fun.**

 **Please remember to follow, favourite and review, and feel free to direct message me – I always love to hear from you guys!**

 **Catch you later! :)**


	5. Chapter 5

**Hi everyone! Welcome back to this story.**

 **So it's been a while because I've had exams and I've been starring in a show, but now that that's over I'm back and still so excited for this story! This is gonna be my Christmas break of writing as much as I can for all my stories, so here's hoping I live up to that!  
**

 **So I have gone through and chosen every dance that I want Austin and Ally to do and when to fit it in with a story line, and I'm really excited for you guys to read and see some of these dances, they're absolutely incredible!**

 **This story is inspired by the BBC (a British television network) series 'Strictly Come Dancing', and its American equivalent 'Dancing With The Stars', neither of which do I own.**

 **As ever, I do not own Austin and Ally or anything you recognise from the show in any way, shape or form, nor do I own any recognisable brands, songs or lyrics within them.**

 **Enjoy!**

 **. . . . .**

 **Chapter Five: Week One – Live Show**

"And out, in, right hand spin, and leap, down, cross feet-3-4, and over arm, double spin, and run back to the square!" I recite as Austin and I run through the end of the dance.

It's Friday afternoon, our last rehearsal session before tomorrow night's live show, and we're just putting the finishing touches to our Quickstep and polishing it off so it's perfect. I'm super happy with it, I think it's gonna go down really well with the judges, audience and hopefully everyone at home.

"Good job!" I say as I past his arm, which is resting around my shoulder in position for the end of the routine, and lean my head in against his shoulder and neck as I try and regain my breath. I may be a professional dancer, but the Quickstep's enough to get an Olympian out of energy!

"Thanks." He replies, smiling at me in the mirror we are facing on the studio wall. "You think it's ready?"

"Yeah, definitely." I reply, as I walk over to the corner to get my drink. "But remember, tomorrow night is just about enjoying it and getting used to dancing in front of a crowd. There's no public vote and no one's getting eliminated so there's zero pressure." I say, trying to reassure him. He seems a very confident person on the outside, but he is still nervous, as he told me at the launch show.

"Yeah, I got it. Just wanna make a good impression is all." He replies, also coming over to get his drink and wipe the sweat off his face with a small towel. He realised the towel was a good thing to have after our Tuesday rehearsal, when he was sweating like a pig.

"And you will do!" I say enthusiastically. "I didn't feel this confident before the first show with Chris last year. I felt _ready_ but I didn't feel _amazing_ about it. And with this dance, I feel amazing." I explain with a smile, and his face lights up. "Alright, let's run the dance one more time and then we can call it a day, sound good?" I ask, standing back up.

"Yeah, let's do it!" He says, walking back over to his start position. It makes me smile, seeing how determined and dedicated he is to nail this dance. I walk over to my iPod and hit play on the demo track of our music a producer sent me, before sprinting over to get into position in time to begin the dance.

The dance is only a minute and a half long, but it's so fast and technical it feels like about 10 minutes! As we're going into the final kick-hop sequence my feet are burning, but in a way I weirdly like the sensation because it reminds me we're dancing well.

I look in the mirror pretty much the entire dance, calling out instructions to Austin when he loses his frame or forgets an arm movement, but on the whole the dance looks really good… like really good! Our dancing style matches our bodies perfectly, and although he is quite a bit taller than me, it still just somehow works.

We get into our final position again and the music ends. "Boom!" I call out, stepping out from Austin's hold and turning to give him a high-five. "Nailed it!"

"We got this!" Austin replies excitedly, causing me to giggle.

"Okay, let's do our warm down and then we can get out of here." I reply, before leading him through our standard warm down procedure to make sure we don't get any injuries. When I'm happy we're both stretched and cooled off enough, we walk back over to our stuff to put everything back into our bags.

"So what's the plan for tomorrow?" Austin asks as we pack up our stuff.

"Well, show days are always busy, especially tomorrow since it's the first one. We have to be at the studio for 11 so we can rehearse the opening and walk-ons, then we have our stage rehearsals in the early afternoon and then it's into hair, make-up and costume to start getting ready for the show! It's a long day, but it's also really enjoyable, especially once the entire cast starts getting to know each other more, it's a real family community feel." I explain as I place my iPod back into my bag and pull out my earphones to plug into my phone for my walk home.

"Awesome, I'm so excited!" He replies as we pull on our jackets and make our way out of the building into the warm Miami air, which causes me to instantly take my jacket off again.

"You should be, Moon. Tomorrow the competition really begins." I reply.

"Great. I'll see you tomorrow, Ally." He says softly with a smile, eyes locking onto mine.

"Bye, Austin. Have a good night." I reply with a gentle smile.

As I start to turn around, Austin calls out to me again and I feel his hand on my shoulder. "Ally, wait!" I turn back to face him. "I just realised… I don't actually have your phone number, and… like, what if something happens and I need to tell you or-''

I cut him off with a giggle and a quiet "Yeah I get it", pulling out a small slip of paper and a pen and scribbling down my number before handing it to him. He beams at me.

"Thanks, I promise I won't annoy you too often." He says happily and I giggle again.

"Whatever. See you tomorrow, Moon." I say, turning and walking away, waving over my shoulder, thinking happily about the blond man I'm walking away from.

Only when I've been walking for about 5 minutes do I realise… Chris, my partner last year, never had my phone number, the celebrities don't need them cos they can get in contact through the producers… and I'm pretty sure Austin would have been made aware of that… so he asked me for my number because… he _wanted_ it? I'm confused about this and what it could mean, but quickly realise I'm completely overthinking everything again and that it's just a sensible idea for him to be able to contact me directly. Still, I can't shake away the feeling of happiness that he has my number, regardless of how or why. Man, what is wrong with me? It's been a long week.

When I get back to my apartment, Trish isn't there. I guess she must still be at rehearsals. I snicker at this thought, she is such a perfectionist, and even though she knows her partner is absolutely terrible, she's just desperate to not be the first one out of the competition. Good old Trish, some things never change.

It's only 5pm, but I am so exhausted I just quickly make myself some food before heading into my bedroom. I take a long, hot shower in my en-suite and keep going over the dance in my head, smiling at the memories I already have from the week of rehearsals.

When I'm done I get everything I need ready for tomorrow and lay on my bed, turning on Netflix on my laptop, getting stuck into the latest series of my favourite show, 'Crime and Judgement', bobbing my head side to side in time with the beats in the title music.

About three episodes in I hear Trish get home. It's kinda difficult to miss, what with the slamming of the door, angry stomping to her bedroom and constant muttered Spanish cussing, accompanied by the occasional word I can recognise such as 'Foxtrot', 'stupid' and… 'mango'? I take it rehearsals weren't all that great for her today, but I can't help but giggle at the thought of my fiery Latina friend.

After four episodes I decide to get some sleep, ready for the big day tomorrow. I turn off my laptop and put it away, turn off my light and climb into bed. As I set my alarm on my phone, I get a text message notification from an unknown number. I open the message;

 _From: Unknown_

 _Sleep well, Ally. Thanks for everything. Can't wait for tomorrow. Austin :)x_

It makes me feel all warm inside and a smile spreads across my face as I go back to setting my alarm and place the phone on my bedside table, falling asleep almost instantly.

. . . . .

The same smile is still on my face when I wake up the next morning and turn off the alarm on my phone. I decide not to go for a run this morning, so instead shower straight away and get dressed into some black leggings, a purple Nike sports bra and a black mesh vest top.

I head out into the kitchen and see Trish chopping up apples with… more strength than is usually required. I'm guessing she's still getting some anger out from last night. I smile and shake my head slightly as I walk over and open the fridge. "Morning, Trish." I say as I pull out a carton of pineapple juice and get a glass out of a cupboard.

"Hey chica." She replies as she continues to chop. "How was your last rehearsal with 'Mr Perfect'?" She questions with more than a hint of bitterness in her voice, causing me to hold back a laugh as I know that would not help the situation.

"Yeah, it was good thanks. How was yours?" I say nonchalantly as I prepare myself some fruit salad with yogurt.

"He. Can't. Dance." She growls through gritted teeth as she moves on to start chopping a pear, throwing the apple pieces into a bowl.

"I'm sure it's not that bad…" I say cautiously as I walk over to the island counter and sit on a bar stool to eat my breakfast."

"Yes. Yes it is." She hisses, turning to face me, and I let out a small giggle as we make eye contact. "I am _not_ going to be the first one out of this competition." She says as she turns back around and continues to chop.

"Don't worry Trish, no one gets eliminated this week, remember?" I say as I eat a spoonful of fruit and absent-mindedly check my social media feeds on my phone.

"That's not the POINT, Ally." She continued to rage, finally picking up her bowl now piled high with fruit and slamming it down on the counter next to me, before walking round to sit on the stool next to me. "If he goes out there and messes up, _I_ look like a fool. Plus, the judges still score us tonight, and those scores get carried over to next week too!"

"Trish, please, don't worry. You're not the only one with a… less than talented partner. Remember, Carrie has that old guy from Channel 11 News. You'll be fine." I reason, continuing to eat.

"Yeah, I guess you're right." Trish concedes. "But I'm still not happy!" She adds before stuffing a huge spoonful of fruit into her mouth, making me laugh.

We finish eating and head back to our bedrooms to finish getting ready, the car should be here in about 20 minutes. I quickly put on some natural make up and throw my hair into a ponytail, gently curling the caramel ends, even though this is all going to be re-done later when I get into costume.

I put on my sneakers and grab my bag full of everything I need and head out into the living room to sit on the couch whilst waiting for Trish and our car.

I am so excited for today!

. . . . .

When we arrive at the studio, we make our way into the green room to sign in before heading to our dressing room, where we leave all our stuff before heading back out onto the main studio floor where we have been told to assemble.

As Trish, Carrie and I stood in a little huddle gossiping, I felt a sudden feeling of dread as I looked up and saw Dallas walking towards us.

Just as he was about to reach us, my vision went black as a pair of strong hands covered my eyes, and a deep voice asked "Guess who?"

I giggled in relief at the familiar voice. "Hi Austin." I replied, removing his hands from my eyes and turning round to wrap my arms around his neck in a hug. "You excited?" I ask as we break out of the hug and he joins our small circle. I notice that Dallas has now disappeared. Thank God.

"Yeah, I can't wait." He replies enthusiastically.

"I'm so excited to see you guys dance." Said Carrie. "I can guarantee, Austin, you couldn't have a better partner than Ally."

"I can tell that already." He replies with a smile, which warms me inside. "Her choreography is insane."

"Oh trust me, you haven't seen anything yet." I reply jokingly.

"I'll say," Trish adds. "You two doing a Salsa is going to be _insane_! That's Ally's specialty." She predicts.

"No pressure then." I say. "Hey have you two found out what dances you're doing next week?" I ask Trish and Carrie. We usually find out on the Friday night if we ask the producers, but I forgot.

"Yeah I'm doing a Jive and Trish is doing a Quickstep." Carrie replies, and I laugh out loud knowing Trish's passionate hatred of dancing Quicksteps. She, like me, specialises in Latin dances, but the Quickstep is the one ballroom dance she's never been able to master.

"Shut up Ally." Trish jokingly threatens. "What dance have you got?"

"I don't know," I reply. "I forgot to ask. I'll find out in a bit."

At this point Jared, the head producer, comes in and talks us through the day's schedule. As it's the first show we need to walkthrough the walk-ons that happen at the very start of the show, when our names are announced. After that, Austin and I will be the first couple to have our 'Stage Run', basically a dress rehearsal with lighting and full band, but not in costume as we only have those for our actual performance because they are still being finalised until the last minute. After that we start getting ready for the show!

The walk-on rehearsal is over and done with quickly, it's not at all difficult just a case of having a mark to go to. Then it's time for our final rehearsal. The whole cast does a group warm up, as is tradition, and then we are all sent to go and chill in the green room until it's our turn, but as Austin and I are first we just stay on the studio floor. It takes the band a couple of minutes to get all their music and everything set up, but soon we're ready to go.

Austin and I nail the dance, and it leaves me feeling so confident for our performance tonight. If we perform like that then I will be over the moon.

We head back into the green room to chill with everyone else whilst everyone has their stage runs, and take the time to just get to know all the other contestants. It's a good group this year, nobody immediately strikes me as a complete moron (although there's always one so I'll just have to wait for them to reveal themselves). It also looks like it's going to be a really high quality competition, so although Austin might be naturally gifted, it does not mean we're going to have an easy run.

By around 4pm everyone has finished their stage runs, so it's time for us to go into hair, make-up and costume. Trish, Carrie and I have our make-up done first. I am given a pretty natural look, just slightly more foundation than I would normally use because of how bright the studio lights are, and red lips.

When that's finished the hair stylist, Megan, comes over and starts working on my hair. She removes it from the loose pony tail I've had it in all day and straightens it back out, before re-applying just the gentlest of curls on the ends of my hair and putting it back up into a tighter ponytail and spraying hairspray all over it.

We generally don't get into costumes until just before the show starts, so we have a bit more time to just chill and eat a little before the show kicks off at 7:15. At 6:55 we put on costumes; mine is a beautiful long green dress with a black waist line and bottom hem and a lacey top, with tan pumps and a green scrunchie on my wrist as an accessory.

At 7:10 we are sent out into the backstage corridor area to get into positions for our walk on, and I find Austin. He looks great, in a dark forest green shirt with a black tie, slightly lighter green waistcoat and pants and black dress shoes. Our outfits look great together, and we take a picture for the official show Instagram page before getting into line for the walk-ons.

We hear the title music begin and the butterflies flood into my stomach. Live shows are always nerve-wracking regardless of how many you do.

When the title music finishes the audience cheers and we hear the voiceover. "Live from Miami, this is Come Dance With Me! Please welcome your hosts, Emma Davis and Kate Harris!"

The music swells up again and the two hosts enter, starting the show. "Hello and welcome to Come Dance With Me 2017!" This gets a huge cheer from the audience. "This is the start of a brand new series and let me tell you, the talent this year is unbelievable!" Emma continues.

"14 couples are ready to dance for your vote, but you are not the only people they need to impress." Kate says.

"That's right. Everybody please welcome, the judges!" Emma announces before the music kicks off again and the four judges make their entrances. "Brian Hansen and Sara Toombs" Emma continues.

"And Amanda Lee and Gino Rossi." Finishes Kate as the judges walk over to their desk.

"Welcome, judges, it's the start of a brand new series, always an exciting time." Emma says, walking over to them. "Sara, you're head judge, so what are you really looking for from our celebrities this year?" She asks.

"Well at this stage I just want to see energy, enjoyment and a performance. This will be new and scary for them, so if they can just put it all to the back of their minds and go out there and give it their all then I'll be happy." Sara replies.

"Gino, our resident fiery Italian, there's no public vote tonight and no one's getting eliminated, so any advice for the celebrities on how to make the most of tonight?" Emma asks.

"Well, as Sara says it really is all about the performance tonight. There is no pressure on them to get through this week so it gives them an opportunity to get used to the dance floor and the lights and the cameras, and they really just have to go for it and have fun!" He exclaims excitedly.

"Thanks Gino. Now all that's left for us to do is introduce you to the dancers themselves." Emma says, walking back over to re-join Kate.

"Please welcome, our celebrities and their professional partners!" Kate announces as the music starts again, and now it's time for all the couples to make their entrances at the top of the stairs as their names are called out and then walk down the stairs into position.

Austin and I are about halfway through, and he gets a huge cheer when we walk out. Clearly he has a lot of fans here! When everyone's out we all head off across the dance floor and up to the hold area, upstairs on the other side of the studio, where we can all watch each other's dances from the balcony whilst we wait our turn.

And just like that, the show begins.

We're the 5th couple to dance, so it's not long before we are brought to the front of the hold area ready to get into position. I can feel the nerves radiating from Austin, so it's time for the pep talk.

"Hey," I say quietly, getting his attention. "Just go out there and give it your all. I know you can do it, you know you can do it, and I'm gonna be right by your side the whole time." I smile at him and he smiles back. "Let's do this!" I say, and we high-five with both hands, intertwining our fingers, before I wrap my arms around him in a brief hug, before we turn to the camera which is about to start filming.

We hear Emma start talking. "Our next couple is pop start Austin Moon and his partner Ally Dawson!" There is a huge cheer from the crowd as we smile and wave into the camera, before starting to walk down the stairs and onto the dance floor to get into position whilst the video of our week in training plays.

We stand behind our huge square props as the video ends, and we hear the voiceover as our cue. "Dancing the Quickstep, Austin Moon and Ally Dawson."

Then the music begins. And so do we.

 _ **(Link to the dance: watch?v=yxU5ka5nUeY &list=PLXPi0gMRkARw_upsOKnTD7vXB_4ocYiD9&index=1**_

 _ **Alternatively, just go onto YouTube and type 'Strictly 2017 Aston and Janette Quickstep' and it should be the top video)**_

. . . . .

 **I was gonna write more for this chapter, but it's already pretty long so I decided to leave it there!**

 **I hope you enjoyed the chapter and I really recommend you watch the dance, and all the dances I will be posting as part of this story, because it really will help bring the story to life. Plus it's amazing dancing to watch so everyone wins! Let me know in a review if you watched the dance and what you thought of it.**

 **Thank you so much for continuing to support this story, and please remember to follow, favourite and review!**

 **Catch you later! :)**


	6. Chapter 6

**Hi everyone! Welcome back to this story.**

 **This story is inspired by the BBC (a British television network) series 'Strictly Come Dancing', and its American equivalent 'Dancing With The Stars', neither of which do I own.**

 **As ever, I do not own Austin and Ally or anything you recognise from the show in any way, shape or form, nor do I own any recognisable brands, songs or lyrics within them.**

 **Enjoy!**

 **. . . . .**

 **Chapter Six: Week One – Live Show (Part 2)**

"Yes!" I exclaimed when we finished the dance, turning around and hugging him tightly as the audience cheered. He did really well, from what I could see. Not perfect, by any means, but for week one I am so happy with that as a performance.

We linked hands and walked over to Emma as the audience continued to cheer. This is always the most daunting part; facing the judges.

"Well done you two!" Emma congratulates as we reach her, Austin's arm coming up and draping over my shoulder. "So impressive for week one, let's see what the judges have to say. Amanda let's start with you, what did you think?"

"Wow, that was crazy fast! It was cheeky, it was light, there were so many great moments in there. However, I'm going to be quite harsh on you, Austin, because I can see already what you can achieve. You need to watch your footwork, as you got tired you got a little bit pigeon-toed and flecked, so just extend your feet a bit more to create more of a line, okay? But overall, well done. Amazing for week one." The audience claps as she finishes.

"Okay, Sara?" Emma asks.

"I agree with Amanda when it comes to the feet, they were sometimes a little flat when you were moving, so keep up on your toes, it's so important for a Quickstep. But you did have a good right-to-right side connection in your frame which was great to see, so just get those feet a little bit lighter and you'll be well on your way. Congratulations." She finished with a smile and more applause from the audience.

"Gino, what did you think?"

"Well, to me, for you two the sky is the limit!" I instantly smile when he says this. "Watching you two out there it was like some sort of green lightning! The timing, the speed, the ease of movement, the interpretation of the song, you even managed to put some sway into it. I don't know what feet they were looking at, but the ones I was looking at were really very, very impressive." A huge round of applause came from the audience at this and I smile, you can always count on Gino to have your back.

"And finally Brian, your thoughts?" Emma asks. Here we go. Brian has always been the most critical of the judges, so if we can get a good comment from him here then I'll be more than a little relieved.

"Well the flat feet did make the dance a little bit jolty and it lacked a little bit of elegance that this dance should have in the top half, and I would have liked just the tiniest bit more character from you, but on the whole I _loved_ the routine, the energy, your agility I thought were outstanding." And once more a huge cheer for an overall positive comment from Brian, I was positively jumping for joy and clung onto Austin a little tighter.

"Well, outstanding, there you have it! Head on up to Kate, off you go." Said Emma, and we nodded in thanks before once again linking hands and running across the floor and up the stairs to the hold area where we have another interview with Kate.

"Well done you two, are you pleased?" She asked as we arrived and Austin's arm went back around my shoulder.

"Yeah, very happy." Austin said, smiling down at me as if looking for confirmation, to which I gave a nod of agreement.

"I mean Brian used the word _outstanding_ , I don't think I've ever heard him say that about a contestant in week one before!" Kate continues getting a small ripple of laughter from the audience and other contestants in the hold area.

"Yeah, what can I say, I know it wasn't perfect and the judges are all correct in their criticisms but I'm so happy with that feedback." He replies confidently, and I rest my head on his chest and smile.

"Well, congratulations. Let's see what the judges have scored you."

The voiceover began again. "Ladies and gentlemen, the judges have their scores;"

 _Brian Hansen:_ 7

 _Amanda Lee:_ 8

 _Sara Coombs:_ 8

 _Gino Rossi:_ 9

"That gives a total of 32 points." The voiceover finished.

The audience gave a huge cheer and I hugged Austin once more. "32! Let me tell you, breaking the 30 barrier on the first week is a real rarity, well done you!" Kate exclaimed, also hugging Austin once I had let him go. She then turned back to the camera. "Remember there is no voting tonight and no one will be eliminated, but this week's scores from the judges will be carried over and combined with their scores next week. Emma." She finished, handing back over to Emma to introduce the next couple.

During the following video, as the next couple were getting into their starting position, we were led back down the stairs and out into the green room to grab our drinks and rest for a minute before heading back up into the hold area.

As we walked through the doors out of the main studio I let out a shriek of joy I had been containing for the past 5 minutes and jumped on Austin's back, wrapping my arms around him in a huge hug. I could feel his shoulders shaking as he chuckled, setting me down and turning to face me.

"Was I okay?" He asks.

"Okay!?" I reply, bewildered. "Austin, you were incredible! I am so proud of you! We got a fricking **9** for a week one dance! You should be so proud of yourself, Gino's right, the sky's the limit!"

"It wasn't perfect though, my feet were bad." He says, sounding a little disappointed and looking down.

"Austin, look at me." I reply, forcing him to look me in the eyes. "Of course it wasn't perfect. It's week one. It's not meant to be perfect – if it was perfect I'd be worried because I'd have nothing to build from! And yes, the feet need a little bit of work, but that's totally fixable! All that mattered about today was showing everyone that we are a couple to watch, and we definitely did that. But remember what I said, the point of this was also to have fun. Did you have fun?" I ask.

"I had the time of my life!" He replies with a small chuckle and a smile.

"Good, then I've done my job." I reply, as we head towards the dressing rooms to grab some water and a snack.

"Oh, hey, did you find out what our next dance is?" He asks as we walk.

"Yeah, I asked Jared just before the show started." I reply nonchalantly.

"And?" He asks, impatiently.

I giggle. "You'll just have to wait and find out in training." I tease with a smirk and he groans.

"Allyyyyyyyy!" He whines like a toddler, making me laugh more.

"I'm building suspense, it'll make the reveal more exciting." I reply, slapping his shoulder lightly.

"Fine." He huffs and tries to glare at me, but that lasts about a second before we both break out into smiles again.

We go back out and watch the rest of the show, cheering on our new friends and enjoying the party atmosphere of the hold area, and at the end of the night we are at the top of the leader board, which puts us in a great position for next week.

As there's no elimination this week, we can go home straight after the live show finishes (as the results show is normally filmed later on Saturday night, so it can be edited ready to be broadcast on Sunday night). As we're walking back through the green room to get changed and go home, I am, as you might expect, still talking to Austin.

"So, normally I let us have Sunday as a day off from training because Saturday's a really late night usually and sometimes I have rehearsals with the other professionals for our group dances, but I really want to get started on next week's routine as soon as possible, I already have a few ideas for it, so are you good to meet m at 9 tomorrow morning?" I ask.

"Yeah sure thing, Palm Beach Studios?" He asks.

"Yeah. See you there." I say, stopping outside the door to the female professionals' dressing room.

"Night Ally. Thank you for an amazing first show." He says, stepping forward and wrapping me up in another warm embrace. I allow myself to sink into his hold slightly for a few seconds.

"No problem. This is just the beginning." I reply, before stepping away. "Goodnight."

Week one: done. Twelve more to go.

. . . . .

 **That's chapter 6! Sorry it's a little shorter, it should really have been part of the last chapter but I ran out of time so it's its own little chapter instead. Hope you enjoyed!**

 **Please follow favourite and review, let me know your thoughts and comments, they really help me out with writing!**

 **Catch you later :)**


	7. Chapter 7

**Hi everyone! Welcome back to this story.**

 **This story is inspired by the BBC (a British television network) series 'Strictly Come Dancing', and its American equivalent 'Dancing With The Stars', neither of which do I own.**

 **As ever, I do not own Austin and Ally or anything you recognise from the show in any way, shape or form, nor do I own any recognisable brands, songs or lyrics within them.**

 **Enjoy!**

 **. . . . .**

 **Chapter Seven: Week Two – Rehearsals**

Sunday morning is usually associated with the calm, the serene and the beautiful, full of relaxation and long lie-ins. Birds singing. Sun shining. Blah, blah, blah.

For me, though, my Sunday morning hadn't been anything like that. You see, mine had consisted so far of staying up until 3am choreographing mine and Austin's next dance – this hadn't been an intentional choreography session, as I had simply wanted to test a couple of ideas to see if they would work, however this had quickly turned into the entire dance being planned out in my head and I needed to dance it and record it before I forgot it. And, as a result… 3am.

Suddenly I regretted asking Austin to have an additional training session today, there was nothing I wanted more at this point than to just crawl into bed and stay there until Monday. But no, I am dedicated and determined not to let Austin down, so I quickly hopped into bed to make the most of the few hours there were until I had to get up to make sure I wasn't late to rehearsal.

Unsurprisingly, I decided to skip my usual morning run that day, and instead simply got up, ate, showered and got dressed into a pair of black and white leggings and a neon yellow and black sports bra, also putting on a flowy white long-sleeve t-shirt for the walk to the studio. After quickly straightening my hair, I slipped on my sneakers and sunglasses before grabbing my dance bag and heading out.

I get to Palm Beach Studios at 8:50 and sit on a bench outside to wait for Austin, pulling out my phone. I open my Tweeter, realising I haven't actually looked on it since the show last night, and decide to see what people thought of our performance.

I had expected maybe a couple of tweets from some of Austin's fans, but as soon as the app loaded my notifications practically blew up with the number of posts I'd been tagged in. I eagerly scrolled through them, reading comments such as:

 **AnnaLovesAustin ~** Moonfan20065 · 10h

 _OMGGGGG! Austin was amazing, can't wait for next week! #ComeDanceWithMe ~AustinMoonOfficial ~AllyDawson_

 **Lily-Mae Evans ~** Panda90x · 11h

 _~AustinMoonOfficial can dance with me anytime. #hot #ComeDanceWithMe ~AllyDawson_

 **EveMoon ~** eviebear · 10h

 _GO AUSTIN AND ALLY! #TeamAustin ~AustinMoonOfficial ~AllyDawson_

 **Max ~** max_parker · 10h

 _Calling it now: Austin and Ally will win #ComeDanceWithMe 2017! ~AustinMoonOfficial ~AllyDawson_

Even some celebrities had tweeted in support of Austin - as I continued to scroll down her feed, I nearly fell off the bench when I saw that none other than Shiny Money, one of the biggest rap stars on the planet, had tagged me in a tweet.

 **Shiny Money ~** RealShinyMoney · 9h

 _Best of luck to my home boy ~AustinMoonOfficial in CDWM, repping the music industry! After that performance I don't think he'll need it tho, that ~AllyDawson sure knows how to dance!_

I felt like jumping up and down like a little girl at the fact that Shiny Money even knows I exist, let alone for saying I'm a great dancer! My excitement continued as I came across a couple of very complimentary tweets that made me blush slightly.

 **MASON ~** Masontyler · 10h

 _Man. ~AllyDawson is HOT! Sign me up. #ComeDanceWithMe_

 **Jamie** ~jamie_cu · 11h

 _What I wouldn't give to be in Austin Moon's position rn… ~AllyDawson hmu ;P xxx_

The last one made me giggle slightly and part of me wondered whether I should actually just send him a message – I liked his sense of humour! I was about to open the messages page when I heard a familiar voice above me.

"Morning Ally, what you laughing at?" Austin asked, looking down at me.

"Just this guy who posted a tweet after the show last night." I replied, holding up my phone to the blonde so he could read the tweet.

Austin took my phone in his hand and read the post a couple of times, and for a split second I could see his jaw tighten and grind shut before relaxing again, and I had no idea why. Confused by this, but choosing to ignore it, I laughed when he made some comment about how I'd pulled as he handed me the phone back, and stood up with my bag.

"Ready to get to work?" I asked as I walked past him and into the building, and he dutifully followed.

"You know it, after last night I'm so pumped to learn the next dance!" He replied excitedly as we walked down the corridor to the dance studio we would be using for the day.

"Good, because this one's really high energy." I reply, walking through the door and crossing the studio to put my bag down in the corner.

"What, more high energy than our last one?" Austin asks as he joins me.

I laugh slightly. "Man, if you thought the Quickstep was high energy then you're in for a shock." I say with a smile.

"Gee. Great." He replies dryly, taking off his sunglasses.

"Okay, let's warm up!" I say, before we move into the centre of the studio and do our usual warm up routine. When we're finished, we head back over to our bags for a drink. "So, this week's dance is…" I pause as I pick up my water bottle and take a sip, and Austin laughs at my pathetic attempt to keep the suspense. "the Samba!" I finish with a big smile.

"Yes!" Austin says with a fist-pump. "This is your specialty, right?" He asks, referring to my title as three-time World Latin Dance Champion.

"Indeed it is." I reply with a giggle. "Which also means I'm giving you a very difficult routine and I'm going to be super strict with you this week, so no slacking!" I warn, pointing a finger at him. "It's our first Latin dance of the series and we need to show people why I have my title. Plus, people will be expecting big things from you after last night and this dance should play to your strengths nicely. Not to mention, this week is the first time the viewers get to vote for their favourite couple so we _need_ to impress them." I finish my mini-lecture and Austin is just looking at me nonchalantly.

"Yes ma'am." He replies with a tiny salute, making me giggle a little.

"Alrighty, so the song we're gonna be dancing to is Want To Want Me by Jason Derulo." I say.

"I love that song!" Austin exclaims with another fist pump, before singing a few lines from the chorus and doing some purposefully bad (at least I hope they were purposefully bad!) dance moves.

I laugh, before walking over and putting a hand on his shoulder to stop him. "Yeah, maybe not quite like that." I say and we both let out a small laugh. "Okay, so, basically it's gonna start with one of us standing on either side of the stage…"

I start leading Austin through the choreography I have planned so far, and it looks really good! Often on this show, the men can struggle with the Latin dances, as it requires quite a lot of hip rotation and looseness that doesn't come naturally to them, so it can take a while to get used to it. Austin, however, gets the hang of it within a couple of hours where it would usually take days.

"Okay, so at this section," I say, referencing the next move I was going to teach him. "we have to be careful and precise. The idea is that you hold me and we spin a couple of times, with one of my legs up at the side and the other straight. But, in the Samba we are not allowed lifts, so at least one of my feet has to stay on the floor. The way we get around this is by having, on the straight leg, just the tip of my toes on the floor so that when we spin, I can still glide and make it _look_ like a lift, does that make sense?" I explain.

"Yeah, I get it." Austin replies, nodding.

"Okay, so remember just before this, I'm like this," I say, getting into the position, which is my left arm wrapped around Austin's shoulder, having just done spins around him, and my right leg high up in the air beside me, with Austin's right arm holding my leg in the air and his left arm around my waist. I look at our position in the mirror and make a comment to Austin to correct his posture, which he quickly does. "So, now, you're in control, we're simply going to make two rotations round to the right. As soon as we start spinning, I'm going to wrap this right leg around your lower back and you're hand's gonna go under my knee to support it there, okay?" I ask, demonstrating the movement of my leg to its new position.

"Got it." He confidently replies.

"Good. Now just remember, when you're spinning, don't try and lift me up, because if my left foot comes off the ground we could be marked down. Brian in particular is very harsh about stuff like that." I explain, thinking of the judge renowned for giving the harshest marks. "Okay, let's try it, ready?"

"Ready." Comes the reply.

"And spin!" I say, and Austin begins rotating us around. As soon as he starts, though, I feel my body rise and my left foot almost instantly comes off the floor. "Okay, see there how you instinctively lifted me?" I ask as we stop and my foot returns to the floor but we stay in position, facing the mirror. "It's normal but you've gotta fight that, because that time my foot was straight up in the air." I explain and he nods. "Let's try it again."

It takes about 7 attempts for Austin to get used to fighting the instinct to lift me, but eventually we get there. I decided to use the tactic of filming it so Austin could see exactly what was happening with my foot coming off the floor, which seemed to help him understand better. The last time we filmed it, it was absolutely perfect – only my toes were touching the floor, but that's enough for it to count, and I was gliding in a way that made it look just like a lift. "Perfect!" I exclaim, showing Austin the video and explaining what was good about it. "Let's just do it a few more times so we get used to that."

When I feel we've perfected the move, we run the dance so far from the top to time. Satisfied with how the dance looks so far, I decide we've done enough and can call it a day. We've actually only done about 20 seconds worth of the minute and a half dance, but I'm so tired from being awake until 3am that I know any more choreography we do won't be fully productive.

As we're putting all our stuff away, Austin and I continue to chat like we normally do. Conversation seems to come so naturally to us, it never feels forced at all. "So, Austin." I say as I pull my white t-shirt back on over my head. "You excited for the press party on Friday night?"

Every year, on the night before the second live show, the producers hold a 'press party', which all the celebrities and professionals attend along with newspaper journalists, television reporters and select guests. It always feels sort of like the official start of the competition, which in a sense is true considering the following night is the first public vote. On the whole, it's a nice event, the producers don't hold back paying for catering and decoration and good music, and it's nice to just spend time with the rest of the cast.

It's also an excuse to get dressed up all fancy, as it's a formal event, which Trish and I always love doing. We spend the day before in the mall looking for the perfect dress to wear, and as soon as we finish rehearsals on the Friday we spend the entire afternoon getting a takeout pizza, putting on chick-flicks and doing each other's hair and makeup as we get ready. It's quality time like that with Trish that is completely irreplaceable. Technically we're both allowed to bring a guest each if we wanted to, but we never do and just go together.

"Yeah, I'm always down for a party." Austin replies, rolling up the legs of his sweats to effectively turn them into shorts, ready for the heat of the Miami air outside. "Free food, free bar. Sounds pretty perfect, right?" He finishes and asks with a chuckle.

I giggle. "Yeah, I guess. I won't be taking that much advantage of the bar, though." I reply.

"Oh, let me guess, you don't drink because it will affect your dancing or something." He replies in a really lame voice, which just makes me laugh.

"No I'm just a bit of a lightweight." I explain, causing him to smirk.

"Oh really?" He asks.

"Yeah, one time at a high school party I had just two beers and was dancing on a table like a maniac. And not even good dancing, as I could tell from the video one of my friends took. It was so embarrassing." I say, laughing gently through my story and Austin laughs too.

"Man, I would pay to see that video!" Austin responds with a laugh.

"Well thankfully it has been forever deleted." I counter, standing up.

"What a shame. I guess I'll just have to get you to re-create it." Austin says, also standing up. I turn my head to face him as we start to walk out of the studio.

"And how, may I ask, do you plan on doing that?" I ask with a smile.

"Well, if I told you that would just ruin the fun." He counters with a smirk.

"Well good luck with your evil scheme because it's not gonna happen." I say confidently as we leave the building. "I'll see you tomorrow, here at 10?" I ask.

"Sounds good. Have a good evening, Ally." He says in his usual polite manner, before starting to walk away backwards as I give a small wave in response.

On my walk back to my apartment I think back to that night I was talking about with Austin. It was embarrassing as hell, but that video actually was pretty damn funny to watch. It's the only recorded time I've ever been properly drunk and I kinda wanna see it again, but I can't remember exactly who it was that filmed it.

I walk through the front door of the apartment, greet Trish who is sat on the couch catching up on the latest episode of her favourite Spanish drama, 'El Dolor Del Amor', and head through to my room, changing into a pair of blue skinny jeans and a red tank top before heading back out into the living room to join Trish. I know better than to try and talk to her when she's watching this show, so I sit on the other couch and pull out my phone, scrolling through Tweeter whilst I wait for the episode to be over, which thankfully isn't that long.

"So, how was rehearsal?" Trish asks, flipping the channel to Miami News and lowering the volume as the end credits of the episode start to roll and she wipes her eyes to get rid of the few tears that accompany every viewing of 'El Dolor Del Amor', which always makes me chuckle.

"It was great," I reply, putting my phone down. "We're doing the Samba and he's already got the hang of most of the hip movements."

"Wow, you really have got a good partner." Trish replies.

"I know, it's a miracle." I say. There is a second of silence, before I decide to ask Trish if she remembers anything about the night of the table dancing, as I like to remember it. Although Trish and I only met on the competition circuit, we became such good friends I would sometimes invite her to come to parties with my school friends, and I'm pretty sure she was at this one. "Hey Trish, were you there that time in high school when I got too drunk and ended up dancing on a table?" I ask.

Trish bursts out laughing. "Oh my God, yes! That was the funniest thing ever! Ally Dawson dancing on a table to You're The One That I Want from Grease, I will never forget that!" She finishes before continuing to laugh loudly.

I face-palmed, having forgotten what the song I'd danced to was, and the revelation that it was such a cringey one bringing another wave of embarrassment. "Anyway," I continue, interrupting her laughter. "do you remember which one of my friends filmed it?" I ask.

Trish thinks for a few seconds before clicking her fingers as a smile comes to her face. "Wasn't it that girl with the wavy blonde hair, brown eyes, super pretty… P- P-'' Trish trailed off, not quite remembering the name to match the face she was thinking of.

"Piper!" I explain, realising who she's talking about.

"Yes! That's the one!" Trish replies. "Wait, why?" She asks.

"Oh, I was talking to Austin about it earlier and it made me think back. I haven't seen that video in years and I'm pretty sure I made her delete it, but I kinda want to see it again." I explain and Trish nods.

"Well you might as well at least ask her if she still has it." Trish responds and I nod, picking up my phone again.

"Yeah, I haven't spoken to her in a while but I guess it's worth a shot." I open my messages and scroll down until I find Piper's name, before typing out a message.

 _ **To: Piper  
**_ _Hey pips, this is gonna sound really random but do you still have that video of me dancing on the table when I was drunk at that party in high school? Xx_

I hit send, and Trish and I get up to go and start cooking some food whilst we wait for her to reply. Trish hates cooking with a passion, but when we cook together we always manage to make it fun and have a laugh. We decide on a chicken stir fry, and I set about chopping up some vegetables whilst Trish prepares the chicken meat. As we cook we always put on super cheesy pop music and dance around as badly as we can, making each other laugh. It's definitely not the most efficient way to cook and we take way longer than it normally would, but it's so worth it.

As I'm in the middle of an exaggerated lunge during a particularly excellently bad dance to 'The Ketchup Song', causing Trish to cackle wildly, we hear a *ping* and I feel my phone vibrate in my back pocket. However, the unexpected nature of said vibration made me jump, and given my position at that time… caused me to fall flat on my face, making Trish laugh 20 times harder than she already was, collapsing on the floor in hysterics.

I am also laughing harder than I have in a long time as I clamber back to my feet, trying to regain some level of grace and dignity, before pulling out my phone to check the message.

 _ **From: Piper  
**_ _Yeah I think so! Might have to search through my phone a bit to find it but I'm pretty sure it's there, want me to send it to you? Xx_

I ask Trish to get the pan ready to start the stir fry before typing out a reply.

 _ **To: Piper  
**_ _Yeah, if you wouldn't mind that would be great! Xx_

I slip my phone back into my back pocket before helping Trish, and we keep dancing along to the continuous stream of cheesy 2000s music as we fry the chicken and vegetables together in some sweet chilli sauce, and it smells absolutely amazing!

One of the best things about a stir fry is that it doesn't take too long to cook, and before we know it it's done and we're sitting down at the island counter to eat. We talk as we eat, catching up and gossiping with the music still playing quietly in the background. About halfway through the meal my phone goes off again and I pull it out, seeing it's a message from Piper with a video attachment.

I press play on the video, and before I know what's happening the chicken and vegetables I had just put in my mouth come flying out again onto my plate as I burst out laughing at the video of me dancing on the table. I re-watch it several times, before handing the phone over to Trish, who has exactly the same reaction I did. I quickly send a message back to Piper.

 _ **To: Piper  
**_ _Thanks pips, catch up soon! Xx_

Trish and I spend most of the rest of the evening watching the video over and over, laughing about how cringey and hilarious it is, until I decide to go to bed, still exhausted from staying up until 3am the night before.

Needless to say, I slept like a log that night.

 **. . . . .**

 **That's chapter 7! I hope you enjoyed it, I'm quite proud of this chapter.**

 **NOTE: The 'Tweeter' accounts referenced in the chapter are completely made up and bear no resemblance to any actual profiles with these names (if they even exist idk)**

 **Also the fanfiction website doesn't let you use the 'at' symbol so I've used ~ as a substitute.**

 **Let me know your thoughts!**

 **Please remember to follow, favourite and review!**

 **Catch you later! :)**


	8. Chapter 8

**Hi everyone! Welcome back to this story.**

 **So sorry for how slow uploads to this story are, but I have the most important exams of my life coming up in the next few months so the only time I'm gonna be uploading is when I'm procrastinating from revision… like now… so in a kind of weird way I sort of hope there won't be frequent updates? Idk. Sorry tho. Aside from that, I really do love this story and I'm super happy with it so far, I hope you're all enjoying it too!**

 **This story is inspired by the BBC (a British television network) series 'Strictly Come Dancing', and its American equivalent 'Dancing With The Stars', neither of which do I own.**

 **As ever, I do not own Austin and Ally or anything you recognise from the show in any way, shape or form, nor do I own any recognisable brands, songs or lyrics within them.**

 **Enjoy!**

 **. . . . .**

 **Chapter Eight: Week Two – Shopping & Shocks**

 _ **Wednesday**_

"Ready, five, six, seven, eight!" I call out as we begin the final section of choreography one last time. "And slide, two, three, pose!" We do a side-stepping glide and finish in a pose for the briefest moment, Austin in a 'Saturday-Night-Fever'-esque pose with one arm up in the air, and me throwing both arms above my head one holding the other. "And in, out, in again, out," We do a short series of typical Samba steps, meeting face-to-face and then swinging out to face the audience before turning back into each other again and repeating. "And spin, grab!" I spin around in front of him to his left side before stopping directly in front of him with my hands on his chest, as he grabs hold of my left knee which I have brought up to his hip. "Dip, up!" He dips me before pulling me back up so we're face-to-face again in our finishing position.

I hold our position and eye contact for a second, relishing in the small glint he gets in his eye whenever we dance, before breaking away and running over to my iPod to stop the music.

"Great job!" I exclaim happily as I run back over and throw my arms around his neck. "That was really good!" I tell him as we pull apart from the hug.

He immediately doubles over and starts breathing heavily whilst I barely broke a sweat. "Thanks." He pants, exhausted. "I don't get it…" He says, pausing briefly for breath as I raise a confused eyebrow at his statement. "I mean I'm a fit guy, but that dance is so fast and you're not even out of breath!" He continues after a few seconds, and I giggle.

"I've been doing Sambas for 15 years, Austin, you get used to it eventually." I respond, walking to our stuff in the corner and throwing him a towel and water bottle, which he thanks me for.

"But still?" He asks, and I smile at him. "Why is it so fast?"

I giggle again. "Oh, Austin. If you only knew what lay in store for you. This isn't even the quickest dance you'll do!" I tell him and see him almost grimace at the thought. "Unless we get knocked out…" I add as a quick afterthought, under my breath. I can't tell if he heard me or not. "Besides, I did warn you I was gonna be extra tough on you this week." I finish, walking over to where he has practically collapsed in the centre of the room and sitting down next to him.

"And you weren't lying!" He replies, finally getting his breath back and sitting up so we're facing each other. "But it's only Wednesday, why did you want to get the dance finished so soon?" He asks, taking a large swig of the water.

At this point I remembered I hadn't told Austin about mine and Trish's tradition for the day before the press party. "Oh, because we're not having a rehearsal tomorrow. Sorry, I completely forgot to tell you." I reply.

"It's cool, don't worry. I could do with a day off anyway!" He replies with a light chuckle and I smile.

"Hey you better do at least a little practice!" I mock-threaten him, pointing an intimidating finger.

He holds his hands up in surrender and smiles. "Okay, _most_ of the day off." He says and I giggle, before getting up and walking over to the corner.

"That's better!" I reply, pulling on my white crop top over my red sports bra.

"So what are you doing tomorrow?" He asks, standing up and walking over to join me, picking up his sunglasses and putting them on top of his head whilst he rolled up the sleeves of his t-shirt and sprayed some deodorant.

"Trish and I have to go shopping for our dresses for the press party." I explain, unplugging my charger and placing it in my bag before taking out my own sunglasses and slipping them on. "And while, for most people, that would only take a few hours, Trish is on an entirely different level." I explain as we start to walk out. "And because of that, we have to dedicate an entire day to it."

"Sounds fun." Austin replies nonchalantly and I smile.

"So, any ideas what you're gonna do with your newfound day of freedom?" I ask, pushing the door to the studio open and walking out onto the street, Austin behind me.

"No not really… I should probably go into the studio and try and write some songs or something but I've had a real lack of ideas lately." He replies as we cross the street and sit on a bench overlooking the beach.

I think of my secret songbook at home, and for a second almost volunteer to help him write one, as I haven't written a song myself in a while and am eager for that buzz again, but I stop myself. It's a secret, and it's going to stay that way. Instead, I simply say "Oh. Well I'm sure you'll think of something soon." whilst looking out at the ocean.

I turn my head and see him gazing at the water too, before turning to me. "Hey, do you wanna…" He suddenly pauses with a conflicting look on his face. I look at him, calmly waiting for him to continue, but after a couple of seconds he just shakes his head with a small "Nah never mind" to which I nod, before we both stand up. "Well, I'll see you on Friday then." He says with a smile, shoving his hands in his pockets.

"Uh, yeah, okay, sure thing." I say plastering a smile on my face to hide the confusion I was feeling at trying to figure out what Austin was going to ask.

"Have a good evening, Ally." Austin said in his usual way with a small smile before walking away.

Hmm. Confusing.

. . . . .

 _ **Thursday**_

It's 1:30 pm and Trish and I are walking out of the third boutique of the day. So far, no luck dress wise although I did find a couple of cute everyday outfits which I just had to buy. Trish was being her usual picky, and brutally honest, self – Trish is one of those people who has no problem telling you if a dress doesn't suit you or makes your butt look big, but I know that she never means it maliciously and, to be honest, I think it's better to be that way. I'd rather someone told me the truth so I could avoid looking like an idiot rather than sparing my feelings, and Trish seems to understand that.

"I mean, it's bad enough pairing me with him in the first place, but then to give us a goddamn Quickstep, which they _know_ is my least favourite dance, on the first week of voting! It's like they're _trying_ to get rid of me!" She ranted as we strutted around the Miami Mall. She's been going like this since drink stop number 1, about an hour ago. Typical Trish.

We decided to stop for lunch so headed over to the food court. We got our food (having eventually decided on Italian after much debate) and sat down at a table. "Anyway, enough about that." Trish said as we started to eat, finally ending her tirade against the producers. "How's your Samba going? Are you guys ready for Saturday?" She asked.

"Yeah, it's actually so good, I'm so excited. We got it all finished yesterday to make sure we're not rushing tomorrow because of today." I answer.

"At least with him you know he'll probably actually do some practice too, since he has a chance of winning."

"Trish it's only week two." I reminded her with a small giggle. "Besides, I think he's spending today trying to write some music, so I don't really expect him to practice."

"Oh, he writes his own songs?" Trish asks, surprised. This is understandable considering all the other pop stars we've met on the show this year and last year all had songwriters.

"Yeah, especially now since he said he wants to branch out into a different style of music." I explained, remembering our conversation the previous week.

"Hey, you should totally write a song with him! Or at least play him some of yours, they're so good!" Trish is one of the only people to know about my love of music and passion for writing songs. She's always tried to persuade me to perform and try and get my music out there, but I can't get over my stage fright.

"I don't know Trish." I reply. "He is a really nice guy, but I've only known him for a couple of weeks. I'm not ready to show him that side of me yet."

"Okay. Just _please_ don't let an opportunity like this slip through your fingers. I'd hate to see you regretting not trying it a few years down the line." She said, looking me in the eyes, and I just nodded in response.

After we finished eating, we continued our search for the perfect dresses.

We had been going round the stores for another couple of hours and I was getting close to simply giving up and reusing my outfit from last year. Trish had found hers, a dress with a plain black top and a leopard print skirt that came to just above her knee, with black high heels. It was formal enough for the event, but still definitely Trish's style.

We entered _'Tahara's Boutique'_ considerably less hopeful than we had been when entering stores earlier in the day, expecting to find another set of nice, but not quite right, dresses. "Ally…" I heard Trish call out from across the shop.

"Yeah?" I replied, looking up from the rail of pink dresses I was looking at.

"I think I've found it." She said, looking up at me with an excited smirk on her face, the one she always had when she found a killer outfit.

I squealed excitedly and hurried over to her, gasping as I saw the dress. It was perfect; it was a red lace long-sleeved dress with a sweetheart neckline that looked like it would come to about my mid-thigh. I loved it. I quickly tried it on and it fit perfectly. As I looked at myself in the mirror, even I had to say that I looked pretty damn good, which I didn't often think about myself.

I walked out of the dressing room and Trish gasped as she saw me. I giggled and we just gave each other a thumbs up, like we always do to tell each other something's perfect.

I quickly paid for the dress, along with some matching red stilettos (I'm short, I need the height!) before leaving the store. As we stepped into an elevator, my phone started ringing. It was my dad.

"Hi daddy." I answered as I picked up the phone.

"Hey sweetie." Came his reply. "Listen, I know it's a hassle, but I have this meeting I forgot about, is there any chance you could come by and watch Sonic Boom for the afternoon?" He asked.

"No, of course that's fine!" I replied. I love the store, and hadn't worked a shift there in a while, having been preoccupied with the show for the last month or so. "Trish and I are actually already in the mall right now, so we'll be there in a couple of minutes."

"That's great, thank you so much honey!" My dad replied.

I giggled lightly before replying. "No problem, dad. Love you."

"Love you too." And with that we hung up.

"Sorry, Trish, I have to go watch the store. You can go back to the apartment if you want." I offered, putting my phone back into my handbag and rummaging around for the nametag I kept in there should I be called into the store, like now.

"No, I'll come with, I haven't been yet this year!" Trish replied excitedly, causing me to remember that she doesn't actually live with me permanently and is just here for the show. I forget that so easily!

We head over to Sonic Boom and walk through the doors to see my dad behind the counter, frantically shoving a few things into his backpack for his meeting.

"Hey daddy." I called out as we walked through the store and up the stairs to my practice room to put our bags there.

I love my practice room. It used to be just a storage room, until I started learning instruments as a kid and my dad decided I needed a place to go practice whenever I needed, but also to just be my own space for when I was stuck here when he was working and I was too young to help. There's a fairly old, but beautiful, piano in there, which I absolutely love and was the piano I learnt on, and the room has always just felt so home-y to me. I spent a lot of time in there growing up.

Trish and I dumped our shopping on the couch before heading back downstairs. "Hey Lester!" She called out, walking over to give him a hug as she hadn't actually seen him in nearly a year.

"Hey Trish, how are you doing?" My dad replied warmly. Trish had always been a bit like a second daughter to him, because of how long we'd known her through dance and the way in which everyone in that community becomes like a gigantic family.

"Good thanks, apart from that my partner's an old, inept golfer with two left feet and I-''

"Trish." I cut her off. "Let's not start that again now." I say, placing my fingers on my temple as I think back to the two hours of ranting I've already endured today.

She muttered something in Spanish and headed over to the couches in the front corner of the store, putting her feet up on the coffee table and picking up a glossy magazine to keep her entertained.

"Anyway," My dad said, turning back to me. "Would you mind closing up tonight?" He asked, finishing packing his backpack.

"Yeah, that's fine." I reply with a smile, heading behind the counter and starting to organise everything behind there.

"Thanks a lot Ally-cat, see you later!" He calls out with a smile and a wave as he leaves the store.

I dutifully helped customers over the next couple of hours, settling back into the groove of how the store worked and enjoying the return to the familiarity of it all. At one point there was a dip in the number of customers and the store was soon empty. This was not uncommon, and I had plenty of ways to keep myself occupied in these situations.

I decided to go over mine and Austin's routine just briefly and started gently walking through the routine behind the counter, unable to stop the smile that spread across my face when I thought about dancing with Austin again. Just as I was getting to the end of the routine, in the corner of my eye I saw someone enter the store.

"Welcome to Sonic Boo-'' I said as I looked up but stopped when I saw who it was.

Dallas.

"H-hi Dallas…" I say timidly, my breath catching in my throat. As I say his name, I see Trish's head snap up and turn to look at us from her position on the couch.

"Hey Ally." He said gently, yet confidently, walking towards the counter.

"Can I help you?" I asked shyly.

"Nah I was just walking past and saw you in here, thought I'd come in and say hi. We haven't had a chance to catch up." He replies, reaching the counter and leaning his hands on it.

I quickly glanced at Trish and I think she could see the panic in my eyes, as she put down her magazine and started walking over to us. "Sorry, Dallas, hate to be rude, but Ally has a lot of work to do so if you're not here to buy anything then you'll have to leave." She puts an arm on his back and starts to lead him to the door. "But we'll see you tomorrow night at the press party, yeah?" She asked as they reached the door.

"Yeah, okay…" Dallas replied, a little bewildered. "See you later Ally. Bye Trish." He said nicely before heading off back into the mall.

As soon as he was out the door I put my arms flat on the counter and slammed my head onto them. I can't believe that I _still_ can't face him properly.

"What am I gonna do, Trish?" I ask, lifting my head up.

"I don't know, girl, but one thing I do know is that you need to get over him. And fast." She replied, walking over to the counter.

"But how? We were together for five years and I've spoken to him a grand total of _twice_ since we broke up, and barely a few words each time at that."

"Well then maybe you just need to suck it up and actually have a conversation with him. That way, you won't have to worry about it anymore and it might help you get closure." She reasoned.

"I don't know, Trish…" I respond, running my right hand through my hair frustratedly. "I'm just worried that as soon as I start properly talking to him and really looking into his eyes again I'll realise I'm still madly in love with him, and then I'll never move on. I already know I'm not over him, but I don't know how badly. And if I realise I'm still in love with him, I'll be crushed." I tell her sadly, choking on my words a little.

Dallas is the only man I've ever loved, and when I fell for him I fell _hard_ , and I'm unsure if I can ever get myself out of that. Since we broke up I just blocked all thoughts of him and pushed the very idea of love to the back of my mind so I wouldn't have to face whether I still have feelings for him. I guess I don't really have a choice now.

"Listen, Ally…" Trish spoke gently, placing her left hand on top my right one, resting on the counter. "I will be right there with you. I'll leave you two to talk alone, but I'll be a few feet away at most, alright? You're not going through it alone, I promise."

I hug her across the counter as a single tear rolls down my cheek.

"Thanks, Trish." I say whilst we hug. "You're the best friend ever."

She giggles as we pull apart. "Oh, chica, I know." She does an exaggerated hair toss, making me laugh.

"Besides, maybe you're right. Maybe if I finally just talk to him I can get it over with and move on." I say, my confidence in the idea slowly growing.

"That's my girl, you got this!" Trish said supportively, her hands on my shoulders shaking me a little.

Yeah. I guess I got this.

 **. . . . .**

 **Hope you all enjoyed this chapter! I was going to carry on and include the party in this chapter but decided to leave it here instead, so you'll have to wait!**

 **Thank you so much to everyone who's been reviewing and favouriting, it really helped inspire me to write another chapter so keep reviewing and I'll keep writing!**

 **Please remember, to follow, favourite and review and I'll see you next time!**

 **Catch you later! :)**


	9. Chapter 9

**Hi everyone! Welcome back to this story.**

 **So I've just finished all of my coursework for history, which is worth like 20% of my final grade, so I decided that rather than just jumping straight back into revision I'd celebrate by writing another chapter! Like I said last time, exams and stuff, but hey who needs qualifications to live, right? Anyway, hope you're all enjoying Come Dance With Me so far!**

 **This story is inspired by the BBC (a British television network) series 'Strictly Come Dancing', and its American equivalent 'Dancing With The Stars', neither of which do I own.**

 **As ever, I do not own Austin and Ally or anything you recognise from the show in any way, shape or form, nor do I own any recognisable brands, songs or lyrics within them.**

 **Enjoy!**

 **. . . . .**

 **Chapter Nine: Week Two – The Press Party**

 _ **Friday**_

We've just finished our first studio rehearsal, and Trish and I are being driven back to my apartment. I have to say, although I've been laughing and rolling my eyes at her for complaining so much about her Quickstep with her partner, now that I've seen it in person… wow. I can understand where Trish is coming from now. But, I know her, and she will do anything in her power to make sure she's not the first professional out of the competition… I guess we'll have to wait until tomorrow night to see how they do!

Austin and I nailed it, so I'm really not worried about our performance tomorrow night. As long as neither of us get completely drunk tonight (dancing with a hangover is _not_ fun… I can tell you that from experience) then we should be okay! I'll just have to keep an eye on how quickly his glass is going down.

Trish and I are excitedly chatting about our second tradition surrounding press party night – yesterday, we had our day off shopping together, but today, as soon as we get back to my apartment it's crappy romcoms and takeaway pizza whilst we get ready for the party. We've made a list of movies and everything, and my Netflix account is open and ready waiting for us!

We practically sprint through my front door and, quite literally, throw our dance bags into our bedrooms before heading back into the living room to order the pizza. One phone call later, and our order of 1 large cheese pizza (with extra pickles) and 1 large barbecue feast pizza with fries and cheesy garlic bread is on its way. Next it's a charge back into our bedrooms to take a quick shower before the pizza gets here. Once out of the shower I wrap my hair in a towel to be styled later and throw on some black shorts and a grey sweater.

Trish and I head back out into the living room and flick on the TV, turning on the first movie of our marathon. We watch for a few minutes until our food arrives and instantly dig in – a day of rehearsals like that really gives me cravings for pizza!

As soon as our food is finished, it's time for us to start getting ready. Trish has amazing make-up skills, so I know I'm in good hands! My specialty lies in hair, so it works perfectly with her being in control of the make-up and me in charge of our hairstyles.

Trish does my make-up first. Nothing too over the top, so it matches my style, just a red lipstick to match my dress and smoky eyes with a little mascara and a few spots of concealer to match my natural skin tone. After it's done, Trish starts doing her own make-up whilst I take the towel off my head and get to work on my hair. I make sure it's dry before straightening it, then bringing it all round onto the left side and pinning it in place.

As Trish is just finishing her make-up, I start on her hair. I straighten it completely, to contrast her normal tight ringlet curls, before pulling it up into a high ponytail and spraying with hairspray.

Not gonna lie, by the time we're done we both look _hot_. And I don't often say that about myself.

It's about 7pm when we're finished with our hair and make-up, and our car is scheduled to come pick us up at about 7:15, so we head back into our bedrooms to change into our dresses and grab our accessories and clutches. I quickly put on my red strappy heels to match my dress before heading back into the living room.

The car arrives perfectly on time and Trish and I eagerly get in, growing more and more excited about the party by the second.

During the drive I think back to yesterday and Dallas's sudden arrival in Sonic Boom with a desire to talk to me, and the ensuing agreement that we'd be able to talk tonight. What could he possibly want to talk to me about? He said he wanted to 'catch up', but what exactly does that even mean? Does he really care about my life now, all of a sudden? Because the way things ended between us were pretty sudden and he didn't seem to care about just cutting me out of his life in an instant.

Regardless, I can't help but feel excited at the prospect of talking to him again. I mean, I know I'm meant to be getting over him, and he has a girlfriend and everything, but still… I'm feeling the same butterflies I felt around him when we first started dating all those years ago. Maybe Trish is right, I just need to have a conversation with him once and it will all be out of my system and I can move on with my life. But, the strange (and slightly scary) thing is… I'm not sureI _want_ to move on...

. . . . .

At 8pm sharp we arrive at the venue, some huge mansion on the outskirts of the 'rich side' of Miami, in the most exclusive area in the city. Let's just say the television network spares no expense for the press party every year, eager to give the media the best impression possible. Last year, the press party was held in some convention centre right on the coastline with huge windows overlooking the ocean and beach. It was magical.

Trish and I walk the small red carpet to the mansion together, posing and smiling for the few journalists not part of the party who wanted pictures. I'm always happy to talk to, and have pictures taken by, the media. I guess it's because I'm not really a celebrity in that I'm not always recognised on a day-to-day basis, so times like this during the show's run are the only opportunities I really get to feel like one, so why not make the most of it? It's good fun, anyway. I'm sure for major celebrities it can get tedious and boring after a while, but I just want to make the most of every moment I get to feel like this.

Once we get inside the mansion we are led by security guards to the 'Grand Hall', the room in which the party is actually being held. As we walk in, I feel all the breath in my body leaving at once as I gasp at the décor. I have never been in a room quite like this before. It has the feel of an old, stately manor home from like 17th Century England, with grand portraits hung on the wooden-panelled walls, a ridiculously high ceiling painted with a beautiful mosaic and an absolutely huge chandelier. The room is easily the size of a football field, with a huge wooden dance floor in the centre, under the chandelier, and tables scattered around the outside covered in crisp white cloths with beautiful light-up glass and water centrepieces. The room is dim with a few flashing lights on the dance floor to create the perfect party atmosphere, and the DJ station is set up ready to go (but empty as yet, the DJ not starting until around 10pm). At one end of the room is a bar, with various people mingling and getting drinks.

The party started at 7pm, but the producers purposefully stagger the arrival times of the celebrities and professional dancers, meaning some are already here and others won't arrive for another couple of hours. At this moment I realise Austin is one of those that isn't here yet, this is hardly surprising considering he is one of the biggest celebrities in the competition this year, meaning he will probably be one of the last to get here as the producers angle for a 'big finish' in terms of celebrity arrivals.

One thing I noticed immediately, however, is that Dallas _was_ already there. God help me. Thankfully he was one of those currently at the bar, so before he could turn and see me I grabbed Trish and dragged her over to a table where I had seen Carrie sitting. "Hey Caz." I said, sitting down next to her.

"Oh hey Ally, hey Trish!" She said excitedly, leaning over to kiss us on the cheeks. "You both look gorgeous!"

"Aww thanks, you do too!" I reply as Trish and I settle into our seats.

Carrie was wearing a blue dress that came to just above her mid-thigh, with a thick black belt just below her chest and black high-heeled ankle boots, and her blonde hair was hanging naturally in gentle curls.

"Oh, guys, this is Hugh." Carrie said, introducing us to the late-middle-aged man sitting beside her. "He's my partner this year."

"Nice to meet you." I said politely with a smile, shaking the man's hand before Trish did the same.

"How are you finding the competition so far?" Trish asked, and I saw the tiny glint in her eye at the glimmer of hope that she may not be the first out of the competition.

"Well, rhythm's not exactly something that's come naturally to me, but I'm really enjoying myself." He replies, placing his hands on top of each other on the table.

"Well don't worry, you're in good hands." I respond with a small giggle. "Carrie's one of the best."

She smiles at me. "Says you, soon-to-be-returning-champion!" Carrie says with a wink and I laugh a little again.

"Hey don't speak too soon it's only week two!" I say smiling.

"Oh, please, Ally, everyone knows you've already got this in the bag." Trish says, grabbing a bottle of water from the centre of the table and pouring some into her glass.

"Oh shut up…" I say under my breath, grabbing my phone out of my clutch having heard it *ping* a few minutes ago.

 _ **From: Austin**_

 _Hey Ally, you at the party already? X_

I feel myself smile at the message as I type a reply and hit send.

 _ **To: Austin**_

 _Yeah, when are you getting here? X_

I barely have time to get back into the conversation before my phone goes off again.

 _ **From: Austin**_

 _I'm on my way now, see you soon! :) x_

I smile again before putting my phone back into my clutch and taking a sip of my water, continuing to get to know Carrie's partner, Trish becoming ever more hopeful about her prospects of remaining in the competition.

. . . . .

At around 9:00, Austin finally walks through the door. Let me tell you, the man looks good in a tux. Standing beside him is a tall redhead in an extravagant jacket, who quickly speaks in Austin's ear and taps him on the shoulder before strolling over to a group of men in suits and greeting them all, clearly friends of his.

I smile and excuse myself from the conversation I was currently having with Piper, one of the other professionals, and walk over to Austin, wrapping my arms around his neck in a hug as I feel his wrap around my waist.

"Hey Austin." I say as we hug.

"Hi Ally, you look beautiful." He says as we pull out of the hug, causing me to look down and blush. I suck at taking compliments from anybody, let alone a man as attractive as Austin.

"Thanks, you look good too." I reply somewhat shyly, looking back up at him as he smiles down at me. "Who's the guy you arrived with?" I ask out of curiosity.

"Oh, that's just my manager Dez." Austin explains before continuing. "Do you wanna get a drink?" He asks. I haven't had any alcohol yet, knowing full well that I should only have one drink (if any) because of how much of a lightweight I am, and had been waiting for Austin to arrive so we could have one together, knowing he'd want one.

"Yeah, sure." I reply with a smile, and as we turn to walk over to the bar I feel him gently place his hand on the small of my back, and my smile widens without me even realising it.

When we reach the bar, Austin orders a cider for himself and a gin and tonic for me, and just as our drinks are served, I feel a tap on my shoulder. I spin around and am surprised to see Dallas stood there, having pretty much forgotten he was even at the party since I had barely seen him all night.

"Oh, hi Dallas." I say with a small smile, seeing Austin also turn to face him in my peripheral vision.

"Hi Ally, you look beautiful." Dallas complimented.

Next to me, Austin sniggered loud enough so that only I would hear, before muttering under his breath; "Already said that, dude, too slow."

I held back a giggle at Austin's comment, noticing that Dallas hadn't heard what Austin had said.

"Thanks." I reply to Dallas with a smile, taking my drink Austin was holding into my hand and taking a sip. I realise at this point that the two men haven't really met each other yet. "Oh, Dallas this is my partner Austin, Austin this is my ex-boyfriend and one of the other professionals, Dallas." I introduce the two, indicating between them.

They shake hands and exchange "Nice to meet you"s, smiling politely, although I can sense a tiny bit of tension for some reason.

"You were very impressive last week, Austin." Dallas says and I smile at Austin proudly.

"Thanks man, it's all Ally though she's a really amazing teacher." Austin replies, smiling back at me.

"Yeah, she's always been amazing as long as I've known her." Dallas said, also smiling at me and I blush at the compliments.

"Oh you guys." I say bashfully with a small giggle. "Is Kira not here?" I ask Dallas politely. "I thought you'd have brought her as your plus one." I explain, quickly glancing around the room for his girlfriend. All the professionals and celebrities are allowed to bring one guest with them to the party – Trish and I just don't bother because we go together and don't really have any other friends worth bringing, and it's definitely not my dad's scene.

Dallas freezes for a second before responding "Oh, uh, no, she, uh, she had to w-work tonight." He says and before quickly clearing his throat and moving the conversation on. "Anyway," Dallas continues. "let me introduce you guys to my partner." He turns around and taps a tall strawberry-blonde girl on the back. She spins around to face us, and… _woah._ She is _gorgeous_. "Guys, this is Cassidy my partner this year, Cassidy this is Austin Moon and his partner Ally."

Cassidy smiles at me and excitedly shakes my hand, saying "Hi!", before throwing her arms around Austin's neck in a quick hug, gushing over him, saying "Hi Austin! Oh my God I'm such a huge fan of your music!" I see Austin's eyes go slightly wide at the sudden hug, but don't miss the way in which he was already slightly wide-eyed at the sight of the beautiful woman in front of us. Hmm.

"So, Cassidy, what do you do?" Austin asked as they broke apart.

"Oh, my dad's Hamish Peeples, you know, the entrepreneur?" She explained. Hamish Peeples is one of the richest men in America, having built his fortune in technology. "I've just done a little bit of modelling and a couple of reality shows." Cassidy continues. So, she's one of those 'famous for being famous' kind of people. Well at least she seems like a nice enough person.

I open my mouth to ask Cassidy how she's finding the competition, but Dallas starts speaking just before my words form. "Hey, why don't you two get to know each other a little whilst I talk to Ally for a minute?" He suggests, and Cassidy eagerly nods and before I can even agree Dallas is leading me over to the other side of the hall.

"So, what did you want to talk about?" I ask.

"I just wanted to see how you're doing, I know we didn't exactly split in the best way…"

"Yeah, no kidding." I couldn't stop myself from saying that.

Cue awkward silence.

"A-anyway I know that the way we ended was probably pretty hard on you and I just want to make sure you're doing okay." He finishes.

I raise my eyebrow at him. Is he being serious? He cheats on me and dumps me unceremoniously, doesn't speak to me for 9 months and _then_ decides that maybe he should make sure I'm okay? He hasn't even _apologised_ for what he did!

Time to let it all out.

"Well, honestly, Dallas, I haven't been okay for the past nine months because you just dumped me out of the blue after _cheating_ on me and then just cut me out of your life entirely! How do you think that made me feel? One minute I was absolutely in love with you and the next I've been thrown to the curb! You never even apologised for cheating on me! So, no, I haven't been okay. But now that I've _finally_ realised everything you put me through, I am okay, and let me tell you that right now in this moment I'm pretty damn glad you're not really in my life anymore."

Man, it felt good to get all of that off my chest. I can't believe I still thought I wasn't over him.

Dallas just stands there staring at me, shocked, and there is silence for a few seconds as we just stare at each other, both slowly coming to terms with the fact that I've just had an outburst and ranted at him for probably the first time ever. When we were together I always agreed with everything he said, because I was so in love with him that I thought he was never wrong. We'd never even had so much as a minor disagreement, which is why it had hurt so much when I found out he had cheated on me.

When I finally come to my senses, the first thought that comes to my head is to make sure I still look strong, even though I'm now internally freaking out. So, I stroll straight past Dallas and over to Austin, who is still having a conversation with Cassidy, grabbing his hand and dragging him with me outside into the courtyard as he yells a "Sorry!" over his shoulder to Cassidy, who is probably staring at us confused as hell right now.

As soon as we're outside I feel the refreshing cool breeze as the door closes behind us. I don't even know how I feel at that moment. I feel liberated knowing that I'm actually over Dallas now, and proud of myself for finally standing up to him and calling him out for the shit time he put me through. But, at the same time, I'm hit with another wave of sadness as I fully comprehend that the five years of my life I dated him were effectively for nothing and that there was no salvaging it anymore.

More than anything, at this moment I just needed comfort and a hug, which I guess must be why I almost impulsively dragged Austin outside with me. I turn around and throw my arms around his neck, and almost instantly feel his wrap themselves around my waist tightly.

"Everything okay Ally?" He asks softly in my ear.

I think for a couple of seconds before deciding on my answer. "Yeah." I say gently, nodding. "Everything _is_ okay now. Just wanted a hug."

I feel his arms tighten their grip around me and I smile, moving my head from resting my chin on his shoulder to lying my cheek against his chest. And we just stay there. And everything feels perfect.

I don't know how long we stand in the middle of the courtyard hugging. And honestly, I don't even care. Eventually, though, I realise people will start realising that we're missing and get suspicious or come looking for us, so we'd better head back inside.

Reluctantly, I pull away from the hug and look up into his gorgeous brown eyes. "You sure everything's okay?" He asks again, quietly.

I give a small smile and nod, before linking my arm through his and walking towards the door back into the party. When we get back inside I tell Austin I want to sit down for a while, so we head over to a table where we spot Trish and Austin's manager, Dez, sat.

"Hey guys, how's it going?" Trish asked with a smile as we sat down.

"Good, good." Austin replied as we sat down next to each other. "Ally, this is my manager and best friend Dez, Dez this is my dance partner, the lovely Ally Dawson." Austin introduced, gesticulating between the redheaded man and myself.

I didn't even take note of Austin's compliment until I was already shaking Dez's hand, trying desperately to avoid blushing. "Pleasure to meet you." Dez spoke kindly as we shook hands.

"You too." I replied sweetly with a smile as we released hands. "I'm guessing you're becoming acquainted with Trish?" I asked.

"Ally's my best friend." Trish explained to Dez. "She lets me live with her in her apartment while the show's running."

"Oh, so where do you normally live?" Dez asks.

"I have an apartment in L.A. I love it out there." Trish explains, sighing happily as she thinks of her home on the west coast.

"Oh cool, me too!" Dez replies. "I also work as a film director so that's my main base, I just do management on the side. I only got into that because Austin's been my best friend since we were kids and he needed someone to do it."

"So do you live in L.A. too?" I ask Austin.

"No, actually, I live here in Miami." He replies with a smile, and I feel a jolt of happiness inside me at this revelation. "I grew up here and then moved out to L.A. with Dez when my music career started, because we thought there'd be more opportunities for me there. But then it just so happened I signed with Starr Records who are based here so I got to effectively come home." Austin recounts happily. "I liked L.A., but Miami will always be my home. It's my favourite place in the world."

"Mine too." I agree and we smile at each other. "I've lived here my whole life, I couldn't really imagine being anywhere else."

We spend about an hour all chatting and getting to know each other a bit. Dez is lovely, a little… eccentric, but really sweet and such a nice guy. Just the four of us hanging out in a group felt really right, and I have a feeling we're going to be a really good, solid group of friends.

At around 10:30, the DJ is in full swing and the dance floor is alive, full of people dancing, singing along and just having a great time. Austin notices me glancing over at the crowded area and smirks at me. "Care for a dance?" He asks, holding out his hand.

I giggle and take his hand, before we stand up and walk into the midst of the crowd with Dez and Trish following behind us. Once we find a good area, we all just instantly get right into it, singing along at the tops of our voices, jumping and dancing around, almost like a group of teenagers at a high school party having the time of their lives.

At some point Carrie and Joanne find us on and join our little group. We're all having such a great time, and I'm laughing and loving every second of it. At one point, Austin leans down to me and asks if I want another drink. I've only had the one we got when he arrived so I decide that one more can't hurt and nod to him. He takes my hand and leads me off the dance floor after we tell the others that we'll be back in a minute.

When we reach the bar, Austin ordered a vodka and coke for himself and I ordered a strawberry daiquiri. We take a seat on some stools at the bar as our drinks are brought to us, and each sigh in relief as we begin to sip away. We don't even have to say much as we sit there enjoying our drinks. We simply enjoy each other's company as we watch everyone having fun on the dance floor, each taking a few minutes to just recover from the hectic atmosphere we'd just spent a considerable length of time in.

The party was gradually beginning to wind down as it approached midnight, with some of the older celebrities especially leaving to make sure they got a good night's sleep before the live show tomorrow night. As we finished our drinks, we hopped down from the bar stools and headed back onto the dance floor, quickly finding Trish, Dez, Carrie and Joanne again.

However, shortly after we re-join the group, the DJ comes on over the mic. "Alright, alright, everybody having a good time?" He asks enthusiastically and gets a good response from the crowd of dancers. "The night's starting to near its end, so it's time we slow things down a bit." He finishes before a slow song starts to play.

At that point around half the people leave the dance floor, including everyone in our group except Austin and I, neither of us seeming to make the conscious decision to either go or stay. We stare at each other for a couple of seconds before smiling, and I walk into his arms and wrap mine around his neck in their now-familiar position as his go down around my waist. I rest my head on his chest and listen to his steady heartbeat as we begin to slowly sway in time with the music.

It's a weird feeling. I don't hate it, by any means, in fact it feels almost natural dancing with Austin this way. It's just strange how my body seemed to do this by itself, without any conscious thoughts or decisions being made by my brain. I decide that doesn't matter for now, though, and instead decide to just enjoy the moment. At one point I catch Trish smirking at me with an eyebrow raised, but choose to ignore her for now and just close my eyes as we continue to sway gently.

I feel so relaxed, what with the gentle swaying and the sound of Austin's heartbeat and the warmth coming from his body wrapping itself almost around mine. The downside of this, though, is that I'm starting to get tired. I open my eyes and glance up at the huge clock on the wall and notice it's now a quarter past midnight. I quickly scan the room and notice that Trish is also gone. How long have we been dancing? I didn't even realise.

I look up at Austin and we make eye contact. He's starting to look a little tired too, with dark bags beginning to form under his warm brown eyes and a vaguely sleepy look on his face. He must have sensed how tired I was, too, because he asks "Getting tired?"

I nod gently and smile, not releasing my arms from around his neck. "Shall we go?" He asks and I nod again.

"Where'd Trish and Dez go?" I ask, noticing the absence of the lanky redhead as well as my best friend.

"They both left about 10 minutes ago." Austin replies, as we finally release our hold on each other and begin to walk back over to our table, where I've left my clutch and phone.

As Austin went to ask a member of staff for a car for us, I unlock my phone and see a text from Trish.

 _ **From: Trish**_

 _Gone home, have fun with lover boy. We'll talk about that tomorrow ;) xxxx_

I roll my eyes at her message. Typical Trish.

"Ready to go?" Austin asks as I look over at him, sliding his own phone back into his pocket as he walked back over to me.

"Yeah." I reply happily and he takes my hand as we leave the hall and walk down the corridor towards the front entrance.

There are still a few journalists and paparazzi outside as we walk back down the red carpet towards the car waiting for us, and I smile as some take a couple of pictures of us walking away from the mansion.

Austin opens the car door for me and I thank him as I step inside, him joining me shortly afterwards and closing the sleek black door. "Where to?" The driver asked politely.

"Give him your address, I'll just walk back to mine from there." Austin tells me quietly.

"Are you sure?" I ask and he nods before pulling out his phone. I give the driver my apartment block address and the car begins moving, a comfortable silence falling over Austin and I. I see him putting his phone away in his pocket and look over at him, shooting him a smile as we make eye contact which he quickly returns.

I feel him rest his hand on top of mine on the empty seat in between us, catching me off guard as he begins to slowly stroke it with his thumb. Shocked, my head (which had been enjoying the view of the ocean out the window) quickly snapped back to look at him, another small smile forming on both of our faces for a brief second as we again make eye contact, before we both simultaneously look away and I pray he can't see the light blush I feel creeping onto my face.

We soon arrive outside my apartment block and I thank the driver, giving him a tip as we step out of the car and Austin closes the door behind me and the car drives away. Austin and I turn to face each other.

"So, I guess this is goodnight?" Austin asks as we smile at each other.

"Yeah, are you sure you want to walk home at this time of night? I mean I don't mind calling a taxi and you can wait inside and I jus-'' I start to ramble before Austin cuts me off with a chuckle, gently placing his hand on my shoulder.

"Honestly, Ally, I'll be fine. I promise." He says, looking into my eyes.

"Okay." I reply, smiling up at him once again, before wrapping my arms back around his neck and hugging him tightly. "Thanks for such a good night, I loved every second." I say in his ear as we hug.

"And thank you for being the best dance partner of all time." He replies with a chuckle, making me giggle lightly. "I had a really great time too."

We break apart from the hug. "So, midday tomorrow at the studio?" I ask, referring to our call time for final rehearsals and pre-rolls.

"Yeah, can't wait." Austin replies excitedly.

"Me neither." I reply with a giggle. "Goodnight Austin."

"Night Ally." He replies, giving me one more quick hug before starting to walk backwards down the street, our eye contact lingering for another few moments.

I turn and walk into my apartment building, stealing one more glance over my shoulder to see Austin still looking at me, before blushing and smiling as I enter the lobby and head into one of the elevators to go up to my floor.

I quietly enter my apartment and close the door behind me, knowing that Trish will probably be asleep with me and does _not_ like being disturbed. I lock the door and head into my bedroom, quickly kicking off my heels, changing into a tank top and shorts and collapsing onto my bed, sighing heavily.

What a night.

. . . . .

 **Boom, longest chapter of the story so far! I really hope you enjoyed this one, I had a lot of fun writing it and I'm really happy with how it turned out.**

 **Let me know what you guys think, I always love getting feedback! You can always leave a review or feel free to private message me or even drop me an email, just send it to my username at**

 **I promise I'll try to update as soon as I can!**

 **Please remember to follow, favourite and review!**

 **Catch you later! :)**


	10. Chapter 10

**Hi everyone! Welcome back to this story.**

 **Wow, it's been a minute. My life right now doesn't really give me any time to even think about writing, and I'd honestly completely forgotten about it! But, today is** _ **exactly**_ **1** _ **year**_ **since I last posted a chapter, so I figured why not? Obviously, there might be a few continuity errors here and there since it's been so long, but I'm gonna try my best and will go back and redraft everything to make sure it all makes sense once I (hopefully) have a bit more time!**

 **Here we go lads, buckle in for some rusty writing…**

 **This story is inspired by the BBC (a British television network) series 'Strictly Come Dancing', and its American equivalent 'Dancing With The Stars', neither of which do I own.**

 **As ever, I do not own Austin and Ally or anything you recognise from the show in any way, shape or form, nor do I own any recognisable brands, songs or lyrics within them.**

 **Enjoy!**

 **. . . . .**

 **Chapter Ten: Week Two – The Show**

 _ **Saturday**_

I wake up the morning after the press party to the sound of rapid, heavy thumping on my bedroom door accompanied by my fiery best friend's voice giving repeated demands of "Ally! Ally! Wake up! Ally! Wake up Ally!"

I groan and bury my head under my pillow, a small headache reminding me of the few drinks I had last night. Needless to say, the racket Trish was providing was definitely not helping my situation.

Not that she cared. "Ally! Ally! I swear to God Ally if you don't get up and let me in right now I will pour the biggest bucket of water I can find straight over you."

And having been Trish's best friend for all these years, I can absolutely confirm that this is a threat she would definitely follow up on. I let out a weary groan before replying, "What do you want Trish?"

The thumping let up at this and her voice instantly became much cheerier. "Ally! Can I come in?"

I mean, I would have replied something like "Sure, come on in", but by the time my mouth had opened to let those words out she had already thrown the door open and skipped over to the side of my bed, thrusting her phone in my face.

"Care to explain?" She asks with a smirk.

Her phone is open on a _Cheetah Beat_ 'news' (more commonly known as 'gossip') article, with the headline:

' _ **Come Romance With Me? Stars Austin Moon and Ally Dawson seen cosily leaving press party together'**_

My eyes bulge open and I sit up instantly. "WHAT!?" I hear myself shout as I grab Trish's phone and read on further into the article.

' _Pop sensation Austin Moon was spotted leaving last night's press party looking pretty loved-up with his Come Dance With Me partner and mentor, Ally Dawson._ '

"Oh my God, this can't be happening!" I mutter to myself as I see a large picture attached, one of the paparazzi shots of us leaving the party together holding hands, and then another one underneath of us getting into the car together. I keep reading.

' _Sources from inside the party reported exclusively to_ Cheetah Beat _that the two were practically inseparable all night, dancing together and even sharing some quiet time alone outside together before ultimately leaving together too. The pair were seen leaving the venue hand-in-hand and getting into a private car together at the end of the party, thrown every year to celebrate the successful launch of another series of the highly popular Saturday night dance competition._

 _Is this the start of another romance to stem from the show? Past series have seen several romantic relationships develop as a result of the contestants having to work together in such a way for the duration of the series._

 _Austin and Ally's first performance last week saw them dancing a highly technical Quickstep routine which went down a storm with the judges, even scoring a 9 from Gino Rossi – they clocked up one of the highest scores ever given for a week one routine!_

 _Clearly the professional dancer and pop star hunk work great together as a team, but will the pair's relationship develop into a sizzling romance? Stay tuned as_ Cheetah Beat _follows this story closely and seeks to find out!_

 _Come Dance With Me airs Saturdays at 8/7c on USBC.'_

I slowly lower Trish's phone and drop it onto my bed before dropping my head into my hands on my lap and letting out a long groan.

I can feel Trish's smirk blazing into the side of my head as she lets out a sarcastic "So?"

I glare up at her. "No, Trish, there is nothing going on between Austin and I."

"Then how do you explain that!" Trish retorts, pointing at her phone, still showing the picture of us leaving hand-in-hand.

"Oh you know how the paparazzi is, they take photos of everything! We were both very tired and we shared a car home, what's so weird about that?"

"What's _weird_ to literally _anybody with eyes_ is that two super-hot young celebrities left a party together _holding hands_ and then _got into a car together_! What else are people supposed to think!?" Trish replies excitedly.

"Trish, I am not a celebrity!" I defend myself. "But yes, I understand how those pictures make it look, but I can _guarantee_ you that Austin and I are just friends and dance partners, and that's it. Besides, the last thing I need during the competition is romance rumours distracting us." I prop my pillows up and lean back against them, grabbing my phone from the side table and nearly choking at the number of Tweeter notifications I see pop up.

"Okayyy, but good luck explaining that to your tens of thousands of followers, miss not-a-celebrity." She winks and grabs her phone before walking out of my room, leaving me to groan again and rest my head back against the headboard.

This is gonna be a long day.

. . . . .

It's time for us to start getting ready for the live show, and I'm sat in the dressing room waiting for my turn to get my hair and make-up done when one of the producers walks in and asks to speak to me outside. Great.

I get up and follow him out into the corridor. "Hey Ally, just wanted to have a little chat about the tabloid articles about last night." began Kian – he's one of the nicest producers out of the whole lot of them, young, passionate and always really friendly and helpful.

"Oh God," I giggle, "I'm so sorry, there's really nothing going on it's just-"

"No, no, Ally, it's fine, don't worry." He cut me off with a chuckle of his own. "There is obviously no problem with whatever kind of relationship you and Austin want to have, it's just that whenever anything like this happens we have to talk to you to explain the potential impacts of the increased media attention and to remind you the most important thing is that you don't let anything that happens affect your dedication and commitment to the show."

I smile and nod, "Yeah of course I completely understand, honestly I promise there's nothing actually happening anyway, it's just one or two photos taken out of context, but I appreciate the sentiment anyway and I fully understand what you're saying."

He smiles back at me. "Okay, that's great, I knew you'd be completely on top of it and of course we don't doubt your professionalism in any way, it's just a precaution we have to take."

"No, honestly it's fine, I'm not offended or anything." I reply with a giggle.

"Okay good. Just remember we don't necessarily encourage you to strictly avoid any developing relationships you have with other contestants, we just want the priority to be the show itself." He continues to explain.

"Yeah, of course, I completely understand. Thanks, Kian." I finish with a smile,

"No problem, Ally, have a good show!" He finishes with a smile and I thank him before we part ways and I head back into the dressing room.

"Oooh, was someone getting _'the talk'_ from Kian?" Carrie asks suggestively with a wink as I walk back into the room.

"Hilarious." I reply deadpan, rolling my eyes as I cross the room and sit back in my seat.

"Don't worry, babe, we've all been there at one time or another." She continues as she curls her hair, playfully mocking me, to which I respond with a giggle. "Seriously, though, what is the deal with you and Austin?" She asks curiously.

"Nothing." I reply with a shrug. "We're just friends and partners for the show."

"Are you sure?" She asks.

"Yeah I'm sure." I reply, making eye contact with her in the mirror as I pull out my phone to pass the time.

"Okay." She replies, releasing a strand of just-curled hair. "Wouldn't blame you if there was, though." She adds with another cheeky wink to which I just roll my eyes and we both giggle.

I open my Tweeter and decide to look through some more of the posts I've been tagged in since last night, they're honestly actually pretty funny to read.

 **ReyRey ~** reyna · 6h  
 _Awwww cuuuuuute! I ship it!#Auslly #ComeDanceWithMe AustinMoonOfficial AllyDawson_

Auslly, huh? Gotta admit, not a bad ship name…

 **LUCYAUSTIN** ~FutureMrsMoon · 8h

 _Hmmm, normally I would attack anyone trying to take away MY Austin… but even I gotta admit, these two are cute! I'll let it pass this once… AustinMoonOfficial AllyDawson #Auslly_

See what I mean? Funny stuff! And then I find it, the ultimate – there's already an entire Auslly Tweeter account some fan set up. I burst out laughing as I see it, and instantly hit follow, it's too funny not too. There's already an entire collection of posts about us, I take a quick scroll through and smile at the fact that fans are already so invested as to make a page like this.

Pretty quickly it's my turn to go into hair and make-up, and start getting ready for tonight's show.

. . . . .

The voiceover booms out, "Dancing the Samba, Austin Moon and Ally Dawson."

Austin and I smile at each other in our starting positions, stood at a couple of pinball machines next to the band on the top of the stage. I'm so excited for this routine, this is exactly the kind of dance I love doing – fast, vibrant, sexy, and so much fun! I breathe in and collect myself, looking down and my gold long-sleeved mini-dress covered in tassels and throw my curled hair back over my shoulders. I look back up and make eye contact with Austin in his simple blue shirt and black pants, accessorised with a bandana worn as a headband keeping his blonde hair out of his face.

He gives a wink and I smile back as the music starts and we begin our dance.

 ***** (YouTube link for the dance: watch?v=D4b5Eb79DLM &list=PLXPi0gMRkARw_upsOKnTD7vXB_4ocYiD9&index=2 Or just search 'DWTS Riker and Allison Samba') *****

And before I know it it's over. We've finished. We're both breathing heavily, smiling, in our end position, held tightly against each other with my left leg up at his side. It takes me a second to come out of my 'dancing zone', which is why I can't tell you anything about during the dance (I get into such a zone of just doing it without stopping to think) before throwing my arms around his neck and bringing my leg down to hug him as we both laugh and cheer for a good job done. "You were so good!" I say as we pull apart and walk over to Emma.

"Austin and Ally, everyone!" She announces as we reach her and the crowd continue to cheer. "Congratulations guys, that looked amazing once again. Amanda, what did you think?" She asks as we turn to face the judges.

"I mean, wow, to be producing this at week two, you guys are incredible!" Amanda begins with a huge grin, and the crowd cheer again. "You're so precise, so on the beat! What really strikes me when you dance is that you seem to just make it music on your body and I, for one, am loving listening to you dance!" She finishes and the crowd continue to cheer. I look up at Austin and we beam at each other for a second.

"Thanks Amanda, let's go to Brian next, your thoughts?" Emma prompts.

"Austin, I feel like I just watched you dance the way I cook, sort of chuck it all in and hope for the best!" Everyone lets out a small laugh and we wait for him to continue. "What I loved here is your enthusiasm. I mean I can't give you a huge mark, you were moving across that floor some of the time looking like Spiderman! It was good, I can't say it was great, but it is of course only week two, so well done!" The crowd gives a slightly smaller clap at the mixed review from Brian, but I'm still super happy with those comments.

"Sara, what did you think?" Asks Emma.

"Well, clearly you must be an excellent chef because I thought that was fantastic! Everything that you did put together somehow ended up working out!" The crowd cheers again as she says this. "The one thing I would say is when you're doing your promenade runs you do look a little bit bow-legged so make sure you really drag those legs and make them properly track, but other than that really amazing!" Sara finishes with a huge smile and claps for us, the crowd quickly joining.

"Thank you Sara, and finally Gino?" Emma prompts the final judge.

"That had the vibrancy, the visual impact, the vitality of the best of Sambas, yet you still managed to put in some really striking individual touches that were so unique and so surprising, and I absolutely loved that! You managed to bring it and make it so fresh and so entertaining and I completely adored it." The excitable judge finished with a massive smile and once again the crowd began to cheer as Emma sent us off upstairs to go and wait for our scores.

"Oh my God guys, that was incredible!" Kate greets us both with a hug as the other contestants crowd around us, all smiling and clapping. "Now, Austin, you were on top of the leaderboard last week, how badly do you want to be back up there again tonight?" Kate asks, presenting the microphone to Austin.

"Oh I definitely wanna be back, you know, I'm very competitive and I definitely loved the feeling of being top of the board last week so I'm hoping to do it again tonight!" Austin answers confidently, that killer smile never leaving his face.

"And Ally, I mean the one thing that really stood out to me was that split dip thing you did and I'm just wondering how you are to be honest." Everyone lets out a small laugh as Kate presents the microphone to me and I giggle too before responding.

"I mean I'm living, so I guess I must be okay." I reply with a laugh and a grin, as Kate turns back towards the camera.

"The scores are in, let's see." She says with a smile.

The voiceover announced "The judges have their scores;"

 _Brian Hansen:_ 7  
 _Amanda Lee:_ 9  
 _Sara Coombs:_ 9  
 _Gino Rossi:_ 9

"That gives a total of 34 points." The voiceover finished as the audience let out a huge cheer and I threw my arms back around Austin in a massive hug, repeatedly shouting "Oh my God oh my God!" as he laughed into my ear.

"Wow, it's week 2 and you've just got three nines, how are you feeling?" Kate asked with a massive smile, giving the microphone to Austin, who's speechless.

"I-I-I," Everyone laughs at his inability to form any words.

"Fair enough, well I'll let you two go and recover, Austin and Ally everyone!" Kate finishes as the crowd let out one last cheer and we practically ran through the doors into the green room.

I scream as soon as the doors close behind us and jump into Austin's arms laughing, and he laughs too as he spins me round a couple of times before putting me down.

"Austin you were incredible!" I pretty much shout excitedly, frantically hopping up and down. "34! Thirty fricking four! I am so proud of you!" I exclaim as I quickly hug him again.

"I know I can hardly believe it!" He replies, his brown eyes alive and alight with excitement. "Like, did that really just happen?"

"I know it's incredible!" I reply. "We're definitely still on top of the leaderboard, especially since our scores from last week are carried over cos this is the first week of public vote."

"Oh yeah, that…" For a second he looks slightly concerned. "I think we should be okay, though." He continues, his cheeky smile back and I laugh.

"I really hope so, I mean if that's not enough I don't know what will be!" I say excitedly, grabbing my water bottle and taking a huge gulp.

"I know." He replies, joining me and turning to face me. "Thank you, though, for everything. You're literally the best partner I could have asked for."

I smile up at him. "No problem, I couldn't ask for a better celebrity to be training. You make it easy." I reply with a smile, before slapping him lightly in the stomach as I cross him to get my towel. "So do you want to know what our next dance is?" I ask.

"Yes!" He shouts excitedly, running over and bouncing up and down in front of me like a child who's just been asked if they want to go to Disneyworld.

"Well, if you thought this week's dance required you to be lose, that was nothing, because next week… we're dancing a Cha Cha!" I reveal, beaming up at him.

"Ooooh, sexy, I love it!" Austin replies, doing an exaggeratedly bad hips wiggle, making me laugh.

"Yeah, that's definitely going in." I mock and he laughs with me.

"Seriously, though, I can't wait to get started." He says, standing up straight.

"Good, so you should be." I reply, as we head back out into the hold area to join everyone else and watch the rest of the show.

Two weeks down. Eleven to go.

Bring it on.

. . . . .

 **That's chapter 10! I know nothing majorly excited really happened, but like I said I haven't written in literally a year so this was kind of me testing the waters and seeing whether I should fully come back to finish this book.**

 **Let me know if you want me to continue!**

 **Please follow favourite and review, let me know your thoughts and comments, they really help me out with writing!**

 **Catch you later :)**


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